


The Fallen

by Cats_Dont_Float



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Blood and Violence, Demon Karkat, F/F, Im bad at this, M/M, War, how does one tag, my writing's better than my tags i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 90,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25431718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cats_Dont_Float/pseuds/Cats_Dont_Float
Summary: Dave Strider and Rose Lalonde own the village’s most popular apothecary. They’re supposed to be inconspicuous and ordinary. But there are whispers that their little healing tricks might be more than they seem, and the witchcraft accusations that have been swirling around Dave’s family for years are starting to spiral out of control. Things come to a head when Dave finds a demon in the alley behind a local tavern with a handful of demon slayers on his tail and finds he hasn’t got the heart to get rid of him, leaving them with no choice but to run for the hills. There’s a safe house out in the countryside, but two witches and a demon aren’t the most subtle of travellers, and there’s more than one person who’s put out a heavy reward on their heads. This could be the beginning of the end.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam
Comments: 101
Kudos: 147





	1. Chapter 1

The tavern is rowdy tonight, more so than usual. The heavy scent of stale alcohol and sweat is oppressive, closing in on Dave as he sits stiffly on a stool at the bar, watching, out of the corner of his eye, a small group of men in one corner who are playing a game around a table. The wooden counters and the patterns they lay them down in make no sense at all to him, but their tense body language and gritted teeth are easier to read than a book. He hates it enough in here at the best of times, only visits because this tavern is far enough at the edge of the village that he’s less likely to be recognised amongst the crowds of passing travellers that frequent it than he would be in a tavern closer to his home, but tonight the sense of waiting danger is too thick, so much so that he can taste it on the back of his tongue, sharp and biting, like acid. The atmosphere is too charged by it, like a room filled with gas, waiting for a spark to set it all off. And through it all, Dave’s sure he hears in passing, on the lips of a group of rogues in one corner, the word ‘witch’, thrown around too casually for his liking. Talk of witches is always around in the village; in a place as small and empty as this village, there’s not much else to do or discuss, but recently the rumours have been getting more and more common for his liking. It can only go on for so long before people start pointing fingers, placing the blame for any minor inconvenience onto anyone they deem to be of an ‘unnatural’ personality. He’s been around for it before, and there’s not much he wouldn’t do to avoid it happening again. As it is, he just downs the last of the mead in his metal tankard, and keeps his ears focused on every sound around him, not letting his guard down for a second.

And then, just after he sets the tankard back down onto the wooden surface of the bar, he hears it: somewhere, someone draws a sword. There’s a murmur that ripples through the crowd, and instantly Dave feels a thousand eyes boring into the back of his head. With a low sigh, he raises a hand, and waves the bartender over as subtlety as possible. It seems it’s just going to be one of those nights.

“Tell me,” Dave says quietly once the bartender stops in front of him, “Does this tavern have a back exit?”

“Uh, yes sir,” the bartender replies, “But it’s only for staff.”

Dave shifts his sleeve, lets a gold piece slide out from inside it and roll down into the palm of his hand, and then pushes it across the counter. “It is imperative for me, and for the safety of this tavern, that I get out of here as quickly as possible,” he mutters, “Go and unlock the back door.”

“Yes! Yes sir!” The bartender says, snatching up the gold piece.Dave watches as he hurries away, and then busies himself by tracing the pattern on the tankard with one finger to try and look as inconspicuous as he can. Another sword clanks somewhere behind him, and the movements of Dave’s fingers quicken just a little, tapping out his anxieties against the aged metal. Just a few more minutes. Just a few more minutes and he can get out of here without a fight.

But then a hand falls down heavily on his shoulder, and Dave feels his heart sink as he does his best not to flinch but doesn’t quite manage not to.

“Well look what we’ve got here,” a voice drawls, and Dave tries to keep his posture as calm as ever, but can’t help trying to sneak a glance out the corner of his eye at whoever’s now gripping his shoulder just a little too tightly. “It’s the little witch boy.”

“If you’ve got a problem,” Dave says, keeping his voice as low and calm as possible, “Then how about we talk about this outside calmly, like men?”

“Aw, the little freak thinks we’re interested in conversation.”

The word ‘we’ catches Dave’s attention. Just how many people behind his back have their weapons drawn right now? He’s not sure he even wants to know right now.

“Nah,” the man behind Dave says, leaning in further, his hand digging sharply into Dave’s shoulder, “I don’t wanna talk. So, where’s you sister, freak? I’ve got a bone to pick with the both of you. We don’t want people like you in this town and it’s time you got out of here.”

Dave can hear more and more now the sound of further weapons being drawn in his direction, and the sound of the tavern is dying away, everyone tuning into their conversation. From the corner of his eye, he sees the bartender return from the back door, and instantly look over at him in a mixture of anger and concern. Clearly, whatever’s going on behind him is worse than he’d hoped.

“Now,” the man behind him says, “Let’s see if you can fight as well as you can dance with the devil.”

Dave lets out a deep sigh. The accusations of devil worship are getting tiring at this point. Then he feels the unfortunately familiar sensation of a blade pressing against his back, and his heart stumbles over its next few beats.

“Alright, alright,” the bartender calls, “Let’s settle down here boys.”

But Dave can sense the way the people behind him are closing in. Even the men in the corner have abandoned their game, wooden counters they were so interested in just a few minutes ago now left alone on the table, and he can feel their glares burning into him. He knows some of the people in this tavern, has seen them around town, knows that his sister’s healing saved half of their children during the drought last year, and yet in such a boring little village as this, it never tasks much to turn the crowds into a mob. And so, knowing he’s got no other choice, he reaches his hand down to rest on the hilt of the sword hanging around his belt, and then, in as quick a motion as he can manage, springs up from his chair and then flips onto the bar, spinning around to face the gathered crowd.

Oh.

That’s a lot of people. And a lot of weapons pointed his way.

He’s got to act fast, especially as a few people start to charge forwards towards him, and so he does the very first thing he can think of to the first thing his eyes land on. The tavern gets a lot of custom, but it’s still as cheap as everything in the village, and the oil lamp hanging from the ceiling above him is suspended from the ceiling only by a frayed rope. So he pulls his sword from its sheath, swings it upwards, and slices the blade straight through the most damaged part of the rope. The oil lamp crashes to the floor, flames flickering out and starting to spread quickly across the wooden, alcohol soaked floor, and instantly the bartender starts to shout as customers hurry backwards shouting amongst themselves.

“Sorry!” Dave shouts to the bartender, before hopping down on the other side of the bar and hurrying out towards the back. He hears footsteps following after him, but he’s always had the advantage of being just a little faster than others, and he flash-steps to the door, shoving it open with his shoulder, and stumbles out into the cold night beyond it, shutting it behind him and standing with his shoulder against it for a few seconds as people continue to try to force it open. Finally, when the struggling stops, he steps away from the door and stows his sword away again. Through a dirty window in the back of the tavern, he can just about see the light of flames flickering inside, and the sound of people shouting in panic is muffled but still clear. He can;’t help feeling just a little guilty, especially after the bartender’s help in his escape, but with the current atmosphere around here, sometimes he’s got to be a little selfish to get by.

A little calmer now, and the adrenaline starting to fade out of his bloodstream, he gets the chance to fully look around his new surroundings. He’s in a tight, dirty alley behind the tavern, lined with garbage bins and old oil drums and wooden storage containers, lit only by the faint light streaming out from inside the tavern. There’s a foul scent of stagnant water in the air, and he’s eager to get out of there and head back home, tugging the hood of his red velvet cloak further over his head to better hide his face on his journey back before he begins looking for the alley’s end.

That’s when it catches his eye.

Just briefly, something flashes past his vision. Dark and wispy, like nothing more than a shadow, and he’d assume it to be just that if he weren’t the only loving thing out there. His hand drifts towards the hilt of his sword again, fingers just brushing the metal, preparing himself just in case, and he turns his head slowly to the left, in time to see whatever that darkness is dart upwards towards the top of a pile of empty crates, and then disappear down behind it.

Slowly, he approaches, feet crunching over an array of broken glass that’s scattered across the cobblestones.

“Hello?” Dave calls, and there’s a squeaking noise, so quiet he would’ve missed it if he weren’t so keenly focused on sound at all times, from behind the crates. Then that mass of darkness, like a cloud of shadows, climbs it’s way back up onto the top of the crates, stretching itself out towards Dave in a way that almost looks as if it’s meant to be menacing.

“What...are you?” Dave says quietly, very hesitantly taking a few steps forwards as he does and noting with interest the way the dark shape flinches backwards.

The shadow rears upwards with a quiet shriek, and some part of it blinks open, so two bright red pools of light, eyes of some sort, become visible to Dave, and turn in his direction. Huh. That’s interesting. Dave’s never seen anything of the sort before, though he could almost say it looked...demonic. But demons are never that small and quiet unless… _of course_. And yeah, there it is: at the edges of the shape, if Dave squints hard enough, there’s a ripple, the shape constantly fluctuating as it moves, unable to hold one form for too long. It _is_ a demon. And it is very, very injured.

Instantly, Dave moves his right hand far away from his sword. There’s never any use in even trying to fight a demon; even one this injured could tear him limb from limb with little effort, though it might use most of its remaining energy in the process. And, for some reason, Dave feels some stab of pity as he watches the tendrils of dark matter swirl inwards, collecting itself into a small, defensive ball as he takes another step towards it. He’s never seen a demon before, has certainly never had any sort of interaction with anything demonic, but he’s heard enough about them to know this demon isn’t exactly what he was expecting when he imagined running into one someday. And more than that, he’s intrigued. There’s an almost calm aura to the creature, instead of the terrifying one he’d expected to find, and he can’t bring himself to capture or harm it in any way like he knows he should. Instead, he finds some desperate urge within himself to...help it, like some calling deep within himself. Blame his sister for raising him in her healer ways, he supposes.

“You’re hurt,” Dave says out loud, speaking as levelly and carefully as possible and hoping this is a demon that understands human languages and not just demon tongues, “I can help. But you’ve got to trust me.” He’s not sure what he’s doing, not sure where this is going to lead or what effects this is going to have,but suddenly he seems to have lost just a little control over his own actions.

The demon’s constant, rapid movement slows just slightly as he speaks, and what seems to be its head lifts upwards, leaning to one side as those red eyes narrow, then blink curiously at him.

“My sister and I, we’re witches. Healers,” Dave says, dropping his voice lower, just in case those men from earlier are listening in. The last thing he needs right now is to get arrested for witchcraft. “We can help, and I promise you won’t get hurt.”

He’s aware, even as he’s speaking, that this is a creature much stronger than him, and of higher powers far more than he could ever hope to achieve, and so it’s with as much respect as he can muster that he leans forwards into a bow before extending a hand out in the demon’s direction, palm up, a gentle peace offering. Still, the demon scrambles backwards a little with a shocked shriek, but then lets out a tiny, confused trilling noise that reminds Dave so much of the village cats that occasionally follow his sister home. Then, painstakingly slowly, the demon extends one tiny tendril of its shadowy mass forwards, creeping outwards like a limb, and rests the end gentle on the tip of Dave’s finger. And when it doesn’t instantly combust, it seems to understand it can trust Dave, and slowly creeps forwards, dragging the rest of what’s left of its mass into Dave’s hand.

“See,” Dave says, “Safe.” When the demon just rests there, eyes gone again now, just a mass of shadows curled up in Dave’s palm, he takes that as an okay, and adds, “I’m going to take you home and we can figure out where you came from.” There’s the faintest squeak, and Dave nods and then starts off towards the distant light of street lamps from the end of the alley.

They’re barely halfway down it when there’s a crash as a window above the alley, and a woman leans out to shout something Dave barely hears, tossing something from the window as she does. He flash-steps out of its path, and winces as the demon hisses, then shapes itself into something vaguely snake-like, before spiralling up his arm, along his shoulder, and settling itself around its neck, bright red eyes open again and glaring into the darkness as it continues to hiss and snarl from its place there.

“Okay, okay,” Dave mutters, still walking but picking his pace up just a little, “We’re fine, we’re safe, let’s just get home.” The demon lets out a few more shrieks that Dave can’t even begin to decipher the meaning of, but then it settles slightly, curling what seems to now be its tail further around his neck and resting its head down on top of it, resembling for the all the world an ouroboros, and Dave can’t help but find it just a tad adorable when the demon’s hot breath flares out through some invisible nostrils and brushes over his skin. At the back of his mind he registers the fact that this is probably crazy, that the second this demon recovers it’s bound to turn on him, or that it could just slide inside his skin and possess him right this minute, and use his body for its own gain while its own form reconstructs itself, but he can’t quite bring himself to believe that. Something about it’s presence is a calming influence on his mind, washing over him as he hurries out onto the nearest street and turns to head for home, and he doesn’t think he could untangle the demon from his neck and throw it away even if he wanted to.

And so he tries not to ponder the exact complexity of his one mindset and decisions as he walks the familiar streets at a pace that probably looks just a little too suspiciously fast to any onlookers, anxiously adjusting and readjusting the hood of his cloak to keep his own face, and the demon around his neck, hidden, until he’s exiting at the side of the village and heading up the small track to the top of the hill where his little cottage is. There’s a light flickering from inside, a small oil lamp flickering on the windowsill that Dave left on when he went to the tavern earlier, and he uses it to guide him up the path through the garden, and to the front door, where he lets himself in and then locks the door behind himself.

“Rose?” Dave calls into the house, though he;s sure his sister isn’t in, “Rose?” When there’s no answer, he takes that to mean she’s still away like she has been for the last few days, and strolls further into the house. He’s just reached the living room when suddenly the demon slides off of his shoulders and onto the floor. Dave takes a step back away from him, and watches as the shape on the floor convulses, and then starts to expand outwards rapidly. Dave’s barely got time to react to that before the shape suddenly shoots upwards, and then suddenly forms itself into a vaguely human shape. A few seconds later, and it starts to grow less transparent, and then, just like that, the demon is corporeal. And...huh.

He’s not what Dave had been expecting. First of all, the demon is short, far shorter than Dave had expected him to be, almost comically so. His skin’s a pale grey, spattered with dark grey freckles, his eyes are a terrifyingly bright red, and small yellow horns grow from the top of his head. And, as if he didn’t already look the furthest thing from human possible, there’s a thin grey tail swinging down from above the waistband of his trousers, and two massive wings spread out behind him, though they remain the only thing of him still made of smoke. There are huge rips and tears through the wings though, and after a few strong beats of those wings they melt into the air around him and disappear.

“Wow, you’re hurt real bad, huh?” Is the first thing Dave asks, and the demon snarls slightly at him.

“Yeah, obviously,” he huffs, crossing his arms, and Dave might be imagining things, but he could swear the little demon is almost...embarrassed of his situation.

“Well, I don’t know much about healing you demon folk,” Dave shrugs, “But my sister and I run an apothecary and I know enough about how she heals humans to get them by so...I’ll do my best.”

“You’re...you’re actually going to help me?” The demon asks.

“Yeah,” Dave says with a shrug, “I told you that when I brought you here. What did you expect me to do?”

“I don’t know,” the demon grumbles, “Sorta just expected you to be a slayer.”

“And you came with me anyway?”

“Just figured someone was gonna get their hands on me eventually,” he sighs, “Hoped you were good, but if you weren’t...I guess I just didn't care what happened anymore.”

Dave has to take a second to pause and reflect on how sad that is, that this demon is so...hopeless. All his life he’s been taught demons are evil creatures to be feared but here this little guy is, putting his life in the hands of someone he barely knows and not caring what happens either way. With everything he’s seen in life, he’s not sure that should affect him as much as it does, but he can’t help the way his heart aches for the demon who’s currently curling in on himself weakly and doing his best to evade eye contact with Dave.

“Let me find something that might help you feel a little better,” he says with a sigh, shaking his head to distract himself from his circling thoughts, “And then you need to rest, for a pretty long time.”

The demon blinks at him for a second, confused, and then a tiny crooked smile grows across his face, and his tail flicks from side to side happily. “Thank you,” he says, “Hey, what’s your name?”

Dave wanders over towards the wooden table in their dining room that’s not been used for eating on in a long time ever since Rose started storing her healing stuff there,and starts to dig through the things they’ve got piled up there. “Dave,” he tells the demon over his shoulder, “Dave Strider. And you?”

The demon then proceeds to let out a horribly mangled mess of sound that leaves Dave wincing. Seeing Dave’s face, the demon huffs, and then says, “Translated to your horrible botched human version, it’s Karkat.”

“Like...beep beep meow?” Dave asks, raising an eyebrow, and Karkat curls his upper lip up to show his sharp fangs to Dave with a very half-hearted snarl. “Sorry, sorry,” Dave says with a soft laugh, remember, not for the first time, that this really isn’t how one’s supposed to act around a creature as powerful as a demon. “Karkat it is,” he says with a nod, and then, “What even happened to you, dude?”

“Slayers,” Karkat grumbles, “Been evading them ever since I got banished.”

“Banished? From where?”

The demon’s entire face flushes bright red, and then he he mutters, so quietly Dave almost doesn’t hear it, “From hell.”

“From hell? You got banished from _hell_? Dude!”

“What?”

“How bad do you have to be to get banished from hell?”

“Ugh, I don’t wanna talk about it, okay?” Karkat mumbles.

“Okay,” Dave says with a nod, though he can’t help being just a little suspicious at that. What does a demon have to do to get chucked out of hell? He’s not sure he even wants to know, so he just distracts himself by searching through a box of bottled medicines.

“Slayers must have torn right through your energy. Their weapons are getting too strong, I don’t know how they do it,” Dave says as he picks up a bottle of one of Rose’s signature mixes, “This should start up the regrowth process just a little more, but you really are gonna have to sleep on this one.”

Karkat takes the small glass bottle when it’s held out to him, and carefully removes the cork from the top, sniffing delicately at the liquid inside. “Thank you,” he says bashfully, before raising the bottle up and sipping at it. He gags at the first hint of the taste, and then throws his head back to swallow down the rest of it as quickly as possible. Dave watches for a second for any sign that he’s chosen the wrong medicine, realising that, for the first time, he;s having to work without any of Rose’s guidance, but when everything seems to be okay, he relaxes a little, and turns to pick up the candle again before leading Karkat out to his tiny bedroom at the side of the house.

“You can rest in here for a while,” he says as he opens up the wooden door with a creak, “Take as long as you need.”

Karkat enters the bedroom slowly, raising his head to sniff at the air carefully. The room is small, nothing but a tiny wooden bed with a lumpy mattress to one side, and an uncomfortable wooden stool next to the window on the other side of the room, alongside a chest of clothes and a few shelves of books and other assorted items. Dave sets the candle down on top of the chest as Karkat looks around.

“It’s not much but -”

“It’s good,” Karkat cuts off Dave, “Thank you, Dave. You’re the only human who’s ever seen me for good instead of evil.”

Dave regards him warily. There aren’t many demons that would just readily label themselves as good, but again he feels himself soothed by the strange calming effect that Karkat seems to have on him. “You’re welcome,” he says instead of voicing his concerns, “I’ll sleep in my sisters room tonight so you haven’t got to worry about me. Rest well, and I’ll see you in the morning. I can’t offer you total safety, but you’re safer here than you were out there and I’ll do my best to help you heal.”

The demon offers him another of those wonky smiles, and slowly moves over to sit down on the edge of his bed. For a second, his wings flare out again, before they fold back into his back and seeming to disappear under his skin. He prods a little at the mattress, and Dave can’t deny it’s weird to watch a demon sitting in his bed and yet to not be doing anything about it.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” is all he says to Karkat, “Pull the curtains before you fall asleep. The sun’ll wake you early if not, or someone’ll look in and see you and freak.”

Karkat nods solemnly, getting up to pull the curtains closed right then, and Dave smiles faintly before pulling the door shut on him. He waits outside the door for a second. He’s not sure exactly what he’s waiting for, but it’s something. But with nothing seeming to occur, he leaves Karkat to it, and disappears off down the hallway to his sister’s room.

Rose’s bedroom is a little more nicely furnished than his, though not by much. A few hand sewn blankets are draped across her bed, and the seat in her room is an old, hole-ridden armchair. Dave lights up one of the candles on a shelf, and then shrugs off his cloak and heavy clothing items, before climbing under the blankets. The smell of lavender and sage hangs heavy in the air, and he breathes in the familiarity of it with a smile as he leans back into the pillows.

There’s a demon in his bedroom, a demon who seems to have a strange calming influence over him, there are definitely witch hunters in town again, and he’s pretty sure the hard corner of a deck of tarot cards stored under Rose’s pillow is what’s digging into the base of his skull, but somehow, Dave falls asleep easier than he has done in weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nothing like promising not to write a long fic for a while and then starting another one right away, huh? i am just a fool. but seriously, i love witchcraft and homestuck and they're like the only two things i'm knowledgeable about soooo...combine the two? yes. i hope people like this au idea, i know demon karkat isn't new but this idea seemed fun. thanks for reading the first chapter if you did!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: some mentions of injuries and treatment in this chapter

When Dave wakes, it’s later than he should be waking, warm morning sunlight dancing across his face and the familiar trill of a blackbird’s song drifting in from beyond the window. In the few days that Rose has been away he’s been sleeping in later and later, enjoying the mornings free of the distant sound of her clattering around the kitchen with whatever medicine she’s preparing for the store that day. The silence and emptiness of the house has, at times, been a little eerie, if he’s being honest, and on more than one occasion he's found himself boredly pacing the house and missing her company, but the longer morning lie-ins have been well worth it.

That morning, as he lays there, it takes a moment for him to realise the bed under him isn’t the same as usual, nor is the ceiling he’s currently staring up at, the cracks in the cheap plaster not the ones he’s spent so many months memorising the patterns of. Then that smell of lavender and sage, and something heavier, cinnamon maybe, reaches him, and just like that the memories of the night before flash back to him. He sits bolt upright in bed, heart stuttering over a few beats and his vision swimming as all the blood rushes from his head as he suddenly remembers that, somewhere, there’s a demon in his house. Or at least, there was. Who’s to say he didn’t disappear overnight as quickly as he appeared?

Even so, Dave finds he can’t linger in bed any longer with the question of where exactly Karkat currently is itching away at the back of his brain, and so he swings his legs around slowly and gets out of the bed. His eyes linger on his pile of clothes on the floor, discarded there the day before, reluctant to put them back on, but it’s either that or one of Rose’s many evening gowns, so he dresses quickly in everything aside from his evening cloak before he makes to leave the room. The house is as empty as he’s gotten used to it being over the last few days, but yet still there’s the feeling that somewhere, someone else is here, and he follows that lingering sensation back to his own bedroom where he left the demon the night before. There’s no noise from within when he pauses outside the door, but he knocks a fist against the wood a few times and waits. After a few moments, there’s a shuffling, and then a scratchy voice from inside.

“Come in,” calls the vaguely familiar voice, and Dave reaches down for the doorknob, noticing as he turns it that it’s loose and makes a mental note to fix that at some point, and lets himself in.

The curtains in the room are still tightly closed; it’s dim in there, shadowy,and it takes Dave a second to locate the demon. Karkat’s sat at the head of the bed, knees tucked against his chest, staring ahead at the wall with the covers discarded around his ankles, looking for all the world like someone who hasn’t got a single minute of sleep the night before.

“Morning,” Dave says, leaning against the doorframe for a second as he takes in the impossible sight that is a demon sitting so casually in his bedroom. He’s not sure if this is ever going to start feeling more normal. He stares for a second more, then steps across the wooden flooring and tugs the curtains halfway open. There’s a hiss from the demon’s direction at the sudden light. “Did you sleep?” He asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” the demon mutters, “A few hours.”

Dave nods. “Good,” he says, “You could have done with a few more though, you need rest for the medicine to effectively work.”

The demon shrugs just a little, grumpily, and Dave turns to look at him more closely. “What’s up with you?” He asks, “You’re different this morning.”

“I’m fine,” Karkat mutters, moving one foot to toss aside the blanket that’s tangled around his ankle. “I shouldn’t have come here,” he adds, “Dangerous for both of us. I’ll be out your hair just gotta -”

“No,” Dave cuts him off with a sigh, “You need at least another day of medicine and rest. You should be fine here for a little while at least.”

“And when your sister comes home?” Karkat asks, “Something tells me she won’t be quite so nonchalant about all of this.”

“Rose will come around,” Dave says, but the demon remains looking way. “Fine, fine, we’ll discuss this more later, just… breakfast first?”

The demon leans his head to one side slightly, tips of his ears twitching in interest. “Depends what you’re cooking,” he says with a carefully levelled voice.

“I was thinking eggs,” Dave says, and smirks just a little when Karkat visibly perks up.

“Eggs are good,” he says, voice not doing quite as much to betray his obvious interest. 

Dave grins a little. “Right,” he says with a nod, “Just...grab any of my clothes if you want clean ones I guess. I’ll go get the eggs cooking.” And he might be imagining it, but he swears that, just for a second, the corner of Karkat’s mouth curls upwards into a tiny smile before he smooths his facial features out again and turns his head away. With a smile of his own, Dave retreats, pulling the door shut behind him, and wanders off to the kitchen.

The kitchen is a mess. Rose is not going to be happy when she gets back.

There are the usual items scattered everywhere- small bottles half-filled with medicines, the aftermath of herbal experiments left in bowls on the small wooden table, and crystals lining the windowsill, catching the morning sun as it rises outside - but in the last few days, Dave has cluttered it up even more. Several of his cloaks and coats are draped over the backs of his and Rose’s chairs at the table, one of his swords is laid out across the the wooden surface of the table itself, and the plates he’s used for his least few meals are still sitting on the side, washed half-heartedly but not fully and not yet put away.

“Well your house is a fucking mess,”a voice says behind him, and turns to watch Karkat trawl into the room. He’s dressed still in his own trousers, but he’s replaced his shirt and sweater with one of Dave’s loose white shirts. The shirt swamps his smaller form, and as he moves he snarls a little every time the too-long sleeves swing around or catch on anything. It looks just a little ridiculous, and Dave has to hold back a laugh.

“Yeah, well, I haven’t had time to clean,” Dave grunts, “feel free to do it while I’m out if it bothers you that much.”

“You’re going out?” Karkat asks, picking up the pile of coats from Rose’s chair and tossing them across the table before he sits down.

“Gotta work,” Dave huffs, “Rose didn’t tell me when she was coming back and she’s just left me to deal with the shop so -” he trails off with a shrug.

Karkat looks around, and then pokes one clawed finger at the soft purple cushion of Rose’s that’s now trapped between his back and the chair. “What exactly do witches do for work around here?” He asks, raising an eyebrow.

“We’ve got an apothecary,” Dave says, “Nothing too big, nothing that would draw attention to us but...well, no one ever notices a little witchcraft slipped into their medicines.” He scoops up one bottle from between two chunks of quartz on the windowsill, and tips it sideways slowly, watching the clear liquid inside swill around.

“Sneaky,” Karkat says, and when Dave looks over at him he’s grinning a little.

“Oh yeah?” Dave asks, “That’s impressive to you?”

“Humans are always impressive to me when they do something that’s even remotely not boring,” Karkat huffs, tracing a claw over a knot in the wood of the table, “You all live such mundane lives.”

Dave snorts softly as he grabs a warped metal pan from one cupboard and lights up the little fire in the kitchen. “You’re not wrong there,” he says, and hears what might be the faintest of laughs from behind him.

As Dave grabs eggs and starts to fry them, Karkat’s silent, but he can feel the demon’s eyes on his back, tracking his every movement. Some part of what he knows about demons suggests that he should be at least a little concerned about that, but he finds he isn't at all. The demon’s presence feels normal already, and almost...welcome. He mulls over that as he waits on the eggs to finish cooking, and then slides two of them onto one cracked plate, leaving the last one for himself. He needs to get more food soon, maybe from the market.

“Here,” Dave says, pushing Karkat’ plate across the table towards him amongst the mess, and then clearing his own chair as best as possible before sitting down.

“Seriously, why is your house such a mess?” Karkat asks, “Do you and your sister not clean?”

“Haven’t had time with Rose away,” Dave says, “The shop’s more important than cleaning the house, we need the profit to survive. And it helps to have an outlet for the craft otherwise...well, I’m sure you know that feeling when you don’t get a chance to use your magick for a while.”

Karkat nods in understanding, mouth too full of eggs to speak, and scratches a claw into the wooden table again with his free hand. Dave winces and hopes Rose won’t notice a few extra markings in the already half-destroyed wood when she gets back.

“So,” Karkat says, “Your shop. Is it just herbal medicines with a bit of your magick in or what?”

“Mostly,” Dave nods, “But we get the occasional patient come in with more serious injuries if they can’t afford the proper doctors. The sick and endangered are much more likely to turn a blind eye to anything a little odd. And it helps having a few people in town that owe you a favour or two, especially when the witch hunters are around.”

Karkat tips his head around a little as he takes in that information. “You seem to have made a good enough life here for yourselves,” he says, “Can’t have been easy.”

“Ah, this was all Rose,” Dave admits, “I’ve only been here a few years but Rose has had this village under her thumb since she was a teenager, whether they like it or not.”

“Where were you before?” Karkat asks, and Dave feels that familiar dead strike through his stomach like lightning. His mind closes in with a scream of ‘no’. There are some places he just won’t let his own thoughts wander to.

“That’s… not a conversation for now,” Dave replies, keeping his voice as level as Rose has taught him to, “We barely know each other after all and...I know I shouldn’t judge you for what you are, but...you know.”

“Yeah,” Karkat sighs, “I know.”

They fall into silence again as they finish their meals, Dave picking up on a tune stuck in his head and starting to hum to himself as he gathers his empty plate and fork together. He grabs Karkat’s plate from him once it’s empty before ditching them both on the side, telling himself he’ll clean them later, and then grabs another medicine bottle he’d set aside the day before.

“Here,” he says, tossing it to Karkat, “Take that and then rest a bit longer. Should be enough at the rate you seem to be healing.”

“Thanks,” Karkat says, catching the bottle easily with quick instincts, and with that Dave finds he hasn;’t got much time left, and gives Karkat a quick few instructions on where to find anything he might need before he leaves for the shop.

It’s a warm morning, early spring sunlight shining down onto Dave’s head as he walks down towards the shop in the centre of the village, and for once he keeps the hood of his cloak down, though the sight of his white hair always turns the heads of those he walks past in the streets. By now, he assumes, most of the locals are used to him and Rose and their slightly strange presence, but it doesn’t do any harm to try and keep themselves out of the spotlight as much as it’s possible to. Either way, there’s always someone around who’s not happy with them. It’s just a matter of learning to deal with it. Luckily, that morning the streets leading down to the store are mostly empty, and once he’s at their store he’s only got to deal with the customers who are usually manageable enough, even with Rose’s current absence.

When he lets himself down into the store, he’s instantly hit by the heady scent of all the herbs hanging in the air, and he reels backwards a little at first before heading inwards, leaving the door unlocked behind him for customers. There are no appointments for the day, just walk in customers, and so he settles himself down behind the desk and allows himself to zone out as he waits for whenever the first customer will walk through the door.

It takes almost half an hour for the door to finally swing open, windchimes Rose attached to the top of the door jingling cheerfully as it’s pushed open, and a middle aged woman wanders in. Dave recognises her as a local, and gets up to his feet with the best customer service smile he can manage.

“Hello dear,” she smiles, “I’ve just come to pick up the usual order.”

And with that, Dave’s usual day begins. For hours he dishes out the usual bottles of medicines that Rose has made over the last few days, checks out minor injuries and prescribes treatments for them to the best of his ability, and in gaps between customers he keeps track of inventory of the stocks they’re running low on. He hopes Rose picks up some good supplies on her journey.

Finally late afternoon rolls around, and with no more customers in sight, Dave closes up the store and starts to head back home. Recently he’s been stopping by taverns more often on the way home, not always looking forward to returning to a house that will more than likely be completely empty, but today he finds himself heading straight home, aware Karkat’s still back there. He only hopes Rose hasn’t come home in the middle of the day while he’s away and found Karkat with no explanation. With this thought, he picks up his pace a little and hurries on home.

The house is silent when he gets back, though, even when he calls out. No Rose, but no reply from Karkat either. Dave hurries towards his own bedroom to check where Karkat is. Sure enough, Karkat’s still in there. But now, he’s curled up on top of the blankets in a tight ball, arms wrapped tightly around himself. His smoky wings have manifested themselves again, and are trailing off of the bed behind him, the tips of them trembling, just as the rest of the demon is. No. Not trembling. Shivering.

Dave hurries over and drops to his knees by the side of the bed, keeping his distance from the wings, not quite sure exactly what happens if you touch some part of the demon’s energy form like that.

“Karkat?” He calls, hands reaching out for the demon, not quite sure whether to touch by hovering them there cautiously, “Karkat?” There’s no reply. And so Dave moves his hands down to try and shake the demon, expecting him to be asleep, and when his hand touches the exposed skin where the too-big shirt has slipped down over his shoulders, Dave flinches back. The demon is burning up with what feels to Dave like a fever, and instantly Dave knows something’s completely wrong here.

“Fuck,” he hisses, “Karkat, gotta wake up, come on.” He shakes the demon again, a little rougher, and this time there’s a tiny grumble from Karkat. Dave lets out a sigh of relief, and quickly starts trying to move the demon so he can access him better, instantly that familiar healer’s instinct kicking in.That’s when he manages to shift up the shirt Karkat’s wearing, and spots something on Karkat’s side.

It’s a wound. Half hidden under makeshift bandages, it’s difficult to see properly, but from the size of it and the way the demon’s entire body flinches when Dave reaches out to touch it gently, he can tell it’s bad.

“Karkat, why didn’t you tell me about this?” Dave snaps, “I’ve only been treating you for metaphysical wounds this is...this is corporeal. Why didn’t you tell me?” The demon whines, and Dave sighs softly. “Fine, we’ll talk about this later,” he says, “Just let me deal with this please. Just sit up.”

Karkat blinks his eyes open slowly, and then slowly shifts himself upwards in the bed until Dave can get at the wound on his side better. “Sorry,” he grunts softly, “Should’ve told you.”

Dave looks down at him for a second, and then says, “Yeah. You should have. Any others you’re not telling me about?”

Karkat holds his gaze for a second, and then ducks his head. “No,” he mutters, and Dave nods before getting to work unwinding the bandages Karkat’s made out of some sort of shredded fabric.

The wound through Karkat’s side is huge. Whatever hit him must have caught his side, gone in the front and out the back, leaving a gaping wound across the side of his torso. Dave pulls back each layer of material gently, until it’s finally revealed fully, and lets out a small sigh.

“How long have you had this?” He asks, “It’s infected, should’ve treated it earlier.”

“Two weeks, I think,” Karkat mumbles, and that sends another wave of panic through Dave.

“Fuck,” he hisses, “With that level of infection I’m surprised it took this long for the fever to take hold. Stay there.”

“What?” Karkat murmurs tiredly, but it’s ignored by Dave as he gets to his feet and sprints back into their kitchen.

Amongst everything they own, only one of their cupboards in the kitchen is filled with the food. The rest are medicines, herbs, salves, everything they need for the apothecary. Rose has a system to everything they’ve got stored there, but he’s never needed it memorised. Until now, apparently.

“Shit,” Dave mutters to himself as he throws open the closest cupboards looking for whatever he can find. “How does she organise this stuff? Alphabetical? ...Nope.” He’s talking to himself again, aware Rose would be tutting at him for it if she was here, but it helps organise his thoughts as he scrambles desperately through the shelves for the few treatments he can think of that might work, grabbing at random things as he goes. Finally, finally, he comes across a few promising items, and stacks them up in his hands before he turns and hurries back to his bedroom, leaving the kitchen in an even worse state before. Rose is going to have multiple reasons to want to kill him when she returns.

Karkat’s laying back down when he gets back, but at an angle that allows Dave access to his injury, and so Dave doesn’t even bother trying to move him, just gets straight to work.

“This is gonna sting,” he mutters as he grabs one of Rose’s famous healing creams. THere’s no reply from the demon, and for a second he’s concerned, until he rubs the first of the cream into the edges of the wound and hears Karkat suck in a sharp breath through his teeth. Well, at least he’s still alive then.

There’s not a lot more of a reaction from Karkat as he continues to work, and so Dave tries to just push aside any thoughts about the fact that Karkat’s even there so he can focus only on the wound. Rose might not have taught him much about dealing with demons, or dealing with people either for that matter, but he knows wounds well, and soon his mind’s taken over by the familiar routine as he cleans and dresses the wound. By the time he’s done, it’s looking a little better, but Karkat’s still shaking and looking just as feverish as before, if not more so.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Dave says quietly, and then leaves the room once again. 

There’s water stored in the garden, and he collects a bucket of it, glared for the coldness of it from where it’s been stored, and carries it back in, grabbing a cloth and a glass from the kitchen as he goes. 

Back at Karkat’s side, he soaks the cloth in cold water and lays it across the demon’s forehead, hoping to take down a little of the burning fever, and then fills up the glass and holds it over to him.

“Drink,” he tells him, and then hands over a bottle of medicine, “And then take that. And then you need to sleep, okay?”

Karkat takes the water from him and sips at it shakily for a while until most of its gone, and then downs the medicine. “Thank you,” he mutters tiredly after he’s done with it, pushing the glass and the empty bottle aside, “Thanks.”

“It’s okay,” Dave says, letting out a sigh of relief. There’s still adrenaline coursing through his veins from the panic, but, now that Karkat seems to not be in quite as bad condition and he’s sure he’s done the best he can, he allows himself to relax just a little. He grabs the blankets and pulls them back up over Karkat, and then gets up to his feet slowly. “Gonna make some dinner, you should try to eat,” Dave says.

Karkat looks at him with a tiny wonky smile, and then shifts very faintly to uck further under the blankets. “Thanks, Strider,” he mutters, and Dave can already hear his voice trailing off as he starts to drift back into a feverish sleep again.

And later, after Dave’s left food in Karkat’s room and eaten a little himself, he all but collapses into Rose’s bed in exhaustion after the day, and drifts into a night of turbulent dreams.

The next few days continue similarly. Each morning Dave wakes, treats Karkat and makes them breakfast, and then heads to the shop for the rest of the day, coming home only to care for Karkat again before then basically collapsing into Rose’s bed at the end of each day after making himself dinner from whatever’s laying around the house. He still hasn’t had time to go shopping for more food yet. It would be a hellish lifestyle, if it weren’t for karkat’s company.

Because somehow, throughout his illness and the fever that’s continuing to grip him, Karkat starts to warm up a little more to Dave. He’s asleep a lot, but when he’s not Dave occasionally gets to spend just a little time with him. He still can’t get Karkat to tell him what got him thrown out of hell, but Dave also hasn’t told Karkat anything much important about his life yet, and it’s becoming almost a competition between the two of them to get any sort of information out of each other. Karkat does share a few things, little anecdotes here and there, and more information about the slayers who’ve been chasing him,a nd Dave repays him with a few stories of him and Rose’s life together. Some days, Karkat’s will fall into strange little moods, getting less talkative and closing in on himself in the moments when he’s awake between naps and lucid enough in between the worst moments of the fever. It’s strange, and Dave can’t quite understand it, but he never really asks. Karkat’s a demon, after all, and even though Dave feels there’s just a little something off about Karkat, a little less-demon than he’d expected him to be, he’s not going to push his boundaries anyway.

Before he knows it, it’s been five days since he brought Karkat home and it’s a Sunday. The shop’s closed, and he finally gets a moment to relax.

He’s busy in the living room later that afternoon, standing on a wooden chair and taking down some of the bundles of herbs that have been hanging from the ceiling whilst they dry, when he hears the door open.

“Hello?” He calls, though already the sound of precise footsteps against the floorboards tell him exactly who it is. There are a few more sounds of movements, and then Rose steps through the door into the living room.

“Good afternoon, brother,” Rose says, shrugging off her long heather grey cloak and tosses it aside, and then proceeding to slowly peel off her black travelling gloves, “Didn’t manage to burn the house down while I was away?”

“Not yet,” Dave replies with a smirk, stretching up on his toes to pull down a bundle of lavender before climbing down off of the chair, casting the bundles of herbs aside into a woven basket resting on the fireplace, He turns for a second to smile at Rose, and then with a soft sigh she steps forwards and holds out her arms, pulling him into a tight hug. Dave grins, turning his head sideways so his cheek presses into her soft white hair, and then slowly steps back from her.

“So,” Rose says with a small click of her tongue, “What did you...do?”

“What?” Dave asks.

“You look guilty and the house feels weird, what did you do?” Rose asks, straight down to business and never one to dwell on the more emotional moments for long. Dave stares at her for a second more, and then sighs softly. He should have known Rose would pick up on Karkat’s presence instantly.

“Okay, but you’ve gotta promise not to freak out,” Dave says, and sees one of Rose’s eyebrows raise a little. He shakes his head at her, and then turns to lead her towards his own bedroom. “Be quiet, I don’t know if he’s awake or not,” Dave tells her before he opens up the door slowly. When he steps into the room, it’s dark with the curtains closed, and Dave carefully opens them up so he can work out where Karkat is, finding the demon curled up tightly in the bed and wrapped in the covers, only his head visible. That, however, is enough for Rose to know exactly what she’s looking at.

“Dave!” She hisses, hurrying forwards, “Did you summon a demon?”

“Didn’t do any summoning,” Dave shrugs, “Found him behind the tavern. He’s injured bad. The slayers are getting worse.”

“Dave!” There’s something vaguely dark flashing in Rose’s eyes, and for a second he’s alarmed.

“What?”

“He’s a demon!”

“Yeah,” Dave says, “I know. But...Rose, I don’t know I just got this feeling that...that I had to help him. I don’t understand it but I have to help him, okay? It’s your fault for driving the fucking hippocratic oath down my throat all the time.”

For a second Rose looks like she’s about to say something else, or possibly scream at him, but then she simply turns and stalks away. “Come and talk to me when you’re done with your little friend,” she huffs as she goes, “I don’t wish to talk in front of him.”

There’s a stirring from the bed as the door slams shut, and Karkat makes a weak attempt at sitting up, and blinks his red eyes at him through the dim room. “Who was that?” he mumbles tiredly.

“That’s Rose,” Dave says, carefully taking a seat at the end of the bed, “My sister.”

“Oh,” Karkat mumbles, “She seems...nice?”

“She is,” Dave tells him, “Just takes her a while to warm up to new people.” He thinks, for a second he sees something, anxiety perhaps, in Karkat’s expression, but then the demon grunts softly and flops back down onto the bed with a sigh, pulling the blankets back over himself. “Well, at least you’re looking better,” Dave retorts, and the demon grumbles from under the blankets in a way that Dave imagines sounds almost fond, but is probably just the demon’s tiredness showing through into his voice.

“Rose will be wanting an explanation,” Dave says with a sigh, brushing his hands against his knees as he stands from the end, “Call me if you need anything.” There’s nothing from Karkat, he’s in another of his strange moods apparently, and Dave pulls the door shut behind him as he leaves.

Rose has already busied herself tidying the mess that is their kitchen by the time Dave gets there, muttering just a little too herself as she gathers discarded clothing items and blankets Dave’s not yet had the time to clean over one arm and as many small bottles of herbs and medicine as she can fit into the other hand. There’s a dangerous energy around her, stressed and irritated, filling the room up like a storm cloud. Dave feels a little sick when it hits him. Rose’s power has always manifested itself in strange ways; it’s a wonder she’s stayed undetected so long.

“David,” she retorts as he steps in without casting a single glance in his direction.

“Hey,” Dave says, leaning against one of their wooden chairs as he watches her hurry around. He’s missed her constant frantic movement around the place just a little, or the sound of it at least, and the way in which it fills up the otherwise eerily quiet house. There’s a second of nothing but that sound, her shoes clattering against the cracked stone floor. The anger in her movements is obvious, and Dave flinches back a little. He should have expected she’d be angry and yet some part of him had thought, had hoped, that she’d understand his actions.

Finally Rose turns towards him and throws the pile of clothes down onto the table in a messy pile. “So,” she snaps, “Tell me something, brother.”

Dave sighs tiredly. She’s got that tone in her voice, dark and twisted, the one she only picks up when she’s not just angry but offended. “Go on,” he says, waving a hand vaguely in her direction.

“Do you ever listen to a word I say?” Rose asks.

“Of course,” Dave says, “You’ve taught me everything I know since I left...you know.”

“Yes, I do know!” She snaps, “I saved you from what certainly wouldn’t have been a wonderful life for you, taught you everything you needed to know to survive life as a...the type of people we are... and yet the minute I leave the house this is how you repay me! You bring a demon into my house!”

“Our house,” Dave corrects her quietly, and doesn’t have to look up to know just how far Rose rolls her eyes back. “Look, Rose, trust me, okay? I know I might not be quite as knowledgeable as you, but I...I know something about this demon. I don’t know what or how or why but I just know.”

“Well don’t be too surprised if I’m not too trusting of your instinct,” Rose snaps, “Because apparently your instinct means bringing one of the darkest known creatures to man into our home! The only safe place we have, Dave, the only one and you-”

“I know, Rose!” Dave sighs, “I know, okay? We’re always in danger and keeping the house safe is our last defence, I know that. But...Karkat’s in danger too, and isn’t that what we do? Protect our own?”

“He is not one of our own,” Rose protests.

“He may not be one of yours,” Dave says, “But he’s certainly one of mine.”

“How so?” Rose asks, and the tiniest bit of the anger in her eyes fades away to be replaced by confusion.

“You’ve lived a remarkably easy life for one of us, Rose,” Dave reminds her, “But until I met you I was...persecuted. Relentlessly.”

“I know, Dave and I wish I could have gotten you out of there sooner but -”

Dave holds up a hand. “That’s not a conversation for today,” he says, “But Karkat...something happened to him, I don’t know what but...even his own kind hate him and don’t want him. And I know how that feels.”

Rose stares at him sharply, purple eyes still too clouded by anger for Dave’s liking, but then the corner of her mouth twitches just a little, and something like understanding seems to fall over her.

“When you’re around him you feel...you understand him without knowing anything about him? Like an old friend coming home?” She checks, and for the first time in days Dave feels like he’s finally got just a few words to explain what he’s been feeling, as confusing as they are. “Ah, I should have seen this before,” she huffs in annoyance, “Should have felt it.”

“What?” Dave asks, feeling, as he so often does in Rose’s presence, that he’s been thrown straight into a different world where not a thing makes sense to him. 

“There are things beyond our understanding at play here,” she says with a heavy sigh, waving a hand vaguely in the air, “It wouldn’t do to explain it to you until I can be certain. And don’t protest,” she adds, fixing him with a stern glare,” You’ve done enough here, this under my control now. There’s much to be worked out but... the demon may stay until he’s healed and no longer. But you’ll be sleeping on the living room floor and you’d best keep him out of my sight.”

Dave stares incredulously at her for a moment, and then ducks his head gratefully. “Thank you, Rose,” he says, “I still don’t know what’s going on here but...thank you.”

“Don’t thank me until he leaves and both of us survive this experience,” Rose says, and then scoops back up the pile of clothes again, “Now I suppose I’ll clean up the absolute mess you’ve made. And you’re going to be out harvesting the garden tomorrow to replace the medicines you’ve used up on him.”

“Yes Rose,” Dave sighs softly, “Thank you, again, I just...I have to do this I can’t explain it but-”

“I know,” Rose says, “We’re all affected by things we’d rather not be from time to time.” She goes to turn away, and then pauses. “His name? The demon, has he got one?”

Dave can’t help smiling just a little. “Karkat,” he says, and Rose nods.

“Okay,” she says quietly. “I’m going to go down to the shop, check you haven’t destroyed that as much as you have our house. Have something ready for dinner when I get back, it’s been a long journey. There are fresh vegetables in my travelling bag, and some bread too. Maybe make a soup.”

“Soup sounds good, Rose,” Dave says with a nod, and watches tiredly as she walks away. Some part of him had expected this from Rose, and yet he can only hope she’ll come around to Karkat’s company like he has, though he worries that with her it might, as it so often does, take her just a little longer to warm up to the company of a stranger. He grabs a pan down from the cupboard and goes to light up the stove, hoping a warm meal will calm her just a little more.

Rose gets back from the shop a little over two hours later, by which point the sun is sinking low in the sky and the soup Dave’s made is filling the house with its scent. Karkat’s asleep, Dave’s checked in on him a few times since Rose left, sleeping off the last of his fever hopefully, and when Rose comes back in she doesn’t mention the demon’s presence at all. When they eat it’s mostly in silence, until Rose lightens the atmosphere just a little with an anecdote from her time at the distant market. After that, it almost feels like normal, until after dinner when Rose disappears off to her own room and gives Dave the space to take the remainder of the soup to Karkat.

The demon wakes groggily, and stares at Dave for a second before he takes the bowl from him with shaky hands. “Thank you,” he says quietly. He takes a shaky mouthful of the soup in, and then adds, “For everything, Strider. I guess I’d misjudged some of you humans.”

He’s speaking just a little strangely, almost emotionally Dave could suppose, sounding the faintest bit like a goodbye of sorts, but he puts it down to the fever still playing with the demon’s mind.

“Eat the rest of your soup,” he tells him instead, “Then take your medicine and sleep, you know the drill.”

“I do,” Karkat says as he watches Dave get up to leave the room, “Bye, Dave.”

Dave stares at him for a second more in the doorway, and then swings it shut slowly. “Sleep well, Karkat,” he tells him quietly before he retreats to the threadbare rug before the living room fire that will, apparently, be serving as his bed for the night. He lies down slowly in the warmth of what’s left of the embers, and lets out a small tired sigh as he tries to let himself fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bleh. i don't like this chapter it's just a lot of...montages??  
> my dumb ass started watching sherlock for the first time this week (side note: watch out for sherlock fics if you want cos those are definitely coming) but um...i think the fact that i was watching a sherlock episode whilst watching this definitely shows through in rose's dialogue so...oops? eh idk anymore man the next chapter should be better.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, when Dave wakes yet again, it’s to the sound of Rose moving around in the kitchen, the heavy smell of lavender filling the cottage, and his bones aching in protest at the night spent on the floor. He shifts himself up off of the rug before the fire that’s dwindled away to nothing but faintly warm embers overnight, and slowly heads into the kitchen, rubbing tiredly at his eyes to clear his vision as he goes. Rose is already dressed, and looking as effortlessly alert and awake as she always manages to in the morning, a picture of easy perfection next to Dave’s still half-asleep self as she leans over their small stove fire and stirs a pot of some strange thick liquid.

“Didn’t get your throat scratched out by demons overnight I see,” she says as pleasantly and conversationally as one can say that sentence.

“I sure didn’t,” he replies with the same level of carefully disguised sarcasm that he’s picked up so easily from her over the years.

“Good,” Rose says, and then, “Sandalwood.”

“What?” Dave mutters tiredly.

“Sandalwood oil. It’s in the cupboard. Get it for me,” Rosie instructs, waving a wooden spoon vaguely in the direction of the cupboard, a spatter of whatever she’s making flying through the air and decorating the stone floor vaguely purple. Dave instinctively steps back just before it can hit the floor so it just misses his feet, and then turns to grab the right bottle from the nearest cupboard.

“Commonly used for purification, sandalwood,” Rose says as Dave finds the right oil amongst their shelves and puts it down beside her, “Religious connotations, that sort of thing, often used in rituals. But that’s magickally, of course. What do we use it for in medicine?”

It’s only then that he realises: this is a test. Of course it is. Everything with Rose is always a test, a chance to learn, a way of her checking everything is still running smoothly. In the days she’d been away, he’d almost gotten used to not constantly having questions thrown at him to test his quick wit. 

“Uh. sandalwood...antiseptic, right? Cleaning wounds. And for soothing uses, headaches and stomach aches, that kind of thing,” He says, stumbling his way through the phrases that have been drilled into his head from months of studying books and working by her side.

For a moment he has to wait in silence as Rose lifts the little bottle to pour half of its contents into her pot from a height that she chooses only for dramatic effect. Then she puts the cork back in again and turns towards him with an approving nod. “Good,” she says, “I’m glad to see you haven’t forgotten everything I taught you. Though, you’d think ‘demons are dangerous’ wouldn’t have slipped your mind quite so easily.” She tosses the bottle in his direction, and Dave just about manages to catch it, instincts still quick.

“Rose,” he sighs, turning to stow the last of the sandalwood oil back away in the cupboard, “I thought we discussed this, you even said he could -”

“I know what I said,” Rose interrupts, giving the mixture a stir and nodding in approval at whatever she sees in the depths of the pot, “I just wonder if I’ll regret it.”

“You won’t,” Dave tells her, “I promise.”

“Hnmm," Rose hums noncommittally, “Either way, it’ll be a learning experience for one of us. Better go and wake your little friend up, actually. If he’s going to stay, he can help. I could do with another pair of hands to bottle medicines up while I’m at the shop.”

“You don’t need me there this morning?” Dave checks.

“You can come down at midday,” Rose says, “I’ll be fine for the morning.” And Dave knows what she really means, knows Rose needs a few hours in the shop by herself after so many days away from it. She’ll want to refresh the protective wards around the place, resoak the wooden shelves in the anointing oils she brews specially for them, and make sure not a thing’s out of place, reconnecting herself with the place.

“Alright,” he says with a nod, “I’ll go wake Karkat, then.” Rose is already lost to the medicine again, though, leaning so far over the pot Dave would almost be worried she’d fall if he hadn’t seen her do it a thousand times before. So he just turns and leaves the warmth of the kitchen, heading towards his own bedroom.

When he gets there, the wooden door is open slightly, and when he knocks a fist against it it swings open a little more. And there’s not a single noise or movement from inside.

“Karkat?” He calls out curiously. There’s still no reply, and so, figuring Karkat’s still asleep, or worsen he’s fallen worse to the fever though Dave could have sworn it was just about to lift, Dave pushes the door the rest of the way open and steps inside.

The first thing he notices is just how bright it is in the room, the curtains having been pulled completely open, and beyond them the shutters over the window are wide open. Then he looks over at the bed and a heavy weight settles itself in the pit of his stomach. Karkat’s not in bed, nor is he anywhere else in the room. He’s gone. And from the state of the windowsill, Dave’s pretty sure he knows what exit route the demon took.

“Shit,” Dave hisses, and then, as a darker thought falls over his mind, “Rose.”

He turns and stalks out of the room as quickly as possible, and hurries back towards the kitchen, the fear that Karkat’s now out there, alone and possibly still ill, crushing down on him.

“What did you do?” He demands as he bursts back into the room, “Rose! What did you do?”

Rose looks over slowly, and raises one light eyebrow. “What are you talking about, Dave?” She asks, “I’ve been here the whole time.”

“I mean to Karkat!” Dave snaps, “What did you do or say to him? Talk him into leaving? Or did you scare him off? What was it?”

“I’ll repeat myself,” Rose says with a tired irritation, “What are you talking about?”

“Karkat’s gone, and I know it had something to do with you!” Dave practically snarls. That properly gets Rose’s attention, and she turns to look at him curiously, eyes a little wider than before. Then she holds up a hand, enough power in just her stance alone to make Dave take a shrinking step back and hold back the words on the tip of his tongue.

“Let me get this right, what you’re telling me is that your little demon friend has run away?” Rose asks, “And you think I chased him out of here? You think I’d be stupid enough to convince a demon to go cause chaos in the village, as if that wouldn’t send suspicions right back towards us again? I’d be offended if there was time to be.”

“So it wasn’t you?” Dave checks, and Rose lets out a deeply irritated sigh.

“Of course it wasn’t me!” She snaps, “Why would I do that when there’s a good chance you two are… Nevermind, let’s just sort this out.”

“Wait, what was that? Us two are what?” Dave asks, instantly hooked by her words, and the fact that the dawning look on her face tells him she’s said way more than she meant to.

“No time for that!” Rose says, waving a hand exasperatedly, “We’ve got a demon to find now.”

“But what were you going to s-”

“Do you want Karkat to be killed or not?” Rose snaps, and that distracts Dave from whatever she was about to say but didn’t, and he decides he’ll ask her about it later, opting now to hurry to grab his cloak so he can get searching for the demon. It’s not the first time Rose has kept things from him, and by now he’s used to being left in the dark by her, for now, there’s more important matters at hand. “Start near the shop,” Rose tells him, “Then the rest of the town square. I’ve got to bottle this medicine but I’ll catch up to you in a few moments, okay?” 

Dave shrugs his cloak around his shoulders, panic starting to slip so far over his mind that he’s barely listening to Rose anymore. “Yep, okay, got it,” he babbles as he hurriedly slips on his shoes and then hurries for the door. He calls out a goodbye before he disappears out of the door,and then rushes towards town, the only thing on his mind finding Karkat before someone worse does.

It’s still early, and there aren’t many people around as Dave rushes down the street towards the centre of the village. He has no idea where Karkat could even have gone to. How fast can a demon even travel? He probably should have listened a little better to the few things Rose has taught him about demons. For all he knows, Karkat could be miles away by now. He only hopes he’s not.

He passes by their shop, pausing outside to peer in through the gaps in the shutters, but inside it’s still dark, no signs of life within. And so, hoping he looks as non-suspicious as possible, he continues on down the street, checking every shop and building and alley he passes, desperation growing with each one he finds empty and void of all demon lifeforms. Time begins to pass quicker and quicker with every anxious race of his heart, a thousand images of what would happen if Karkat fell into the wrong hands flashing through his mind.And then suddenly, his mind is back at the night he first met the demon, the tavern and its dirty alleyway, and he knows where he needs to go.

The tavern appears soon along the road at the edge of town, and Dave ducks around it, grateful for the lack of people around as he heads towards the alley with his heart still racing, plucking anxiously at a loose thread on his sleeve. This alley, he realises, is his last hope, his last place to check, his last everything. And it seems awfully empty. 

But then, there, amongst a few broken crates, hidden in the shadows, is a shape. Back hunched and head bowed, the demon is almost unrecognisable, but Karkat nonetheless, with a cloak swaddled around himself and a hood draped low over his face, seemingly just waiting there in the darkness.

“Karkat!” He breathes out in relief, picking up his pace and hurrying to the end of the alley. “Karkat, there you are,” he says, and the demon slowly raises his head, hood slipping backwards just a little.

“I knew you’d look for me here,” Karkat says quietly one hand reaching out quickly to snag the hood between claws and tug it back down again to keep his face as covered as possible, “I wanted to say goodbye but -”

“Goodbye?” Dave asks, “What do you mean? Where are you going?”

Karkat shrugs. “Anywhere, I guess,” he says, “Maybe I’ll crawl back to hell and beg they let me back in. Get sentenced to a horrible job for the rest of time as a lowly punishment. At least I’ll be where I’m supposed to.”

“You’re not even properly healed yet,” Dave reminds him, “And I thought you were completely banished. Why would you...why are you leaving really?”

Karkat stares at him defiantly for a second, and then drops his head down to look at the ground instead. “I heard you and Rose talking yesterday,” he mutters after a moment, “Look, Dave, I don’t know what happened to you before but I can tell Rose saved you from...something. And I don’t wanna be the one that gets between the two of you. I was never meant to be here anyway.”

“Don’t listen to her, she’s always like that, just -”

“Dave,” Karkat says as sternly as possible, “I’ve made up my mind. This is ridiculous anyway. How could I ever even try to live in the human world? This isn’t my place.”

And he’s right. Dave knows this, has known it for the whole few days that Karkat has been staying with him, that this can’t continue forever. What space is there in this world for a demon, when anyone who shows even the slightest hint of anything less than normal has been relentlessly persecuted and purged from the land? And yet there’s a tugging ache in Dave’s chest at the thought of leaving Karkat. In this world he’s learned to lose things, learned to hurt and ache and mourn, and yet this demon he’s known for just a few days leaves him so utterly confused by everything he thought he knew.

“Karkat I -”

“Don’t try to convince me, please,” Karkat says.

“Look,” Dave snaps a little, desperate now to try and convince him in some way, “Look Karkat I don’t know if you feel it but there’s something about you that I don’t understand, some connection that -”

“I know,” Karkat says roughly, “Dave, our worlds were never meant to interact. By now I surely should have lost all sense of decency and destroyed your soul; it’s what I’m meant for, after all. But as I’m sure your sister has told you, the world is made of many strings that tie things together. There’s something between us, whatever it is, tying us, but it shouldn’t be there, it’s wrong, it’s all wrong. Probably an old blood line curse or something, my ancestor used to possess yours, that sort of thing. Whatever it is, you have to ignore it,okay? We’ll both be safer if we stick to our own worlds.” He pauses for a second, and lets those huge smoky wings of his unfurl behind him, before adding, “But thank you, for the medicine.”

Hope fading, Dave takes a step close to Karkat, and the demon slowly stands up, wings fluttering faintly behind him. “You can’t just -”

“I can do whatever I want!” Karkat interrupts Dave, teeth bared in a feeble imitation of a threat, “I’m a demon, Strider. So I suggest you let me.” His eyes flare a brighter red for a second, glowing more than before, and Dave’s reminded a little uncomfortably of just how powerful Karkat could truly be if he let himself. “Please, I don’t want to be an intrusion,” Karkat says a little weakly, and then, almost respectfully, he ducks his head in Dave’s direction before he gives one huge flap of his wings. The movement sends a wave of energy radiating out in every direction with enough force that Dave stumbles backwards, almost knocked off of his feet, and in a swirl of inky black smoke, Karkat vanishes.

There’s a sharp tugging pain in Dave’s chest as he watches the last of the demon dissipate, and it almost takes his breath away with its rudeness, before he becomes increasingly of his sudden isolation in the dingy back alley. As he turns and trudges slowly back out towards the sleepless, miserably feeling like a failure and aching for some chance to go back and convince Karkat to stay, he can only rethink bitterly that Rose will probably be relieved by this entire turn of events.

*****

“Well that’s disappointing,” is the first thing Rose says when he catches up to her on Main Street and relays the turn of events to her, “I can’t say it isn’t a slight relief, though.” And Dave just lets out a heavy sigh at her words. For once, the easy predictability of his sister isn’t as comforting as usual.

Seeming to sense his sadness, Rose turns her head in Dave’s direction as they walk up the street, falling easily into a matching pace beside each other, and smiles just a tiny bit at him. “Karkat knows what he’s talking about, Dave,” she says quietly, “He wouldn’t have left if he didn’t really think he was a burden. It does prove you may have been right about him being a savoury character though. I had suspected he might turn on us, but apparently not.”

“Yeah, yeah, Rose, I get it,” Dave grunts, already ready to go home and try and pretend none of this ever happened, “It was stupid anyway. I shouldn’t feel so -”

“Connected to him?” Rose guesses, and Dave nods, feeling foolish. “Understandable,” she says, and then, “What?” as Dave raises an eyebrow at her. “I’m just saying, the two of you had something in common, troubled backgrounds. It isn’t ridiculous to say that some sort of connection formed between you. It’s not a completely logical one, but a connection nonetheless.”

“Do you know something I don’t?” Dave asks, feeling, not for the first time, that Rose has seen something in Karkat that he hasn’t.

“Not particularly,” Rose says, “not yet, anyway. But I don’t believe that’s the last we’ve seen of him.”

And Dave finds himself inclined to believe her. She is, in her own right, a Seer, after all.

*****

The afternoon passes slowly but surely into a cool evening, Dave harvesting herbs in their neatly plotted garden behind the cottage as the sun sets behind the distant lines of forest trees. The smell of freshly baked bread sneaks out from the kitchen where Rose is working over the stove as usual, sticking sprigs of rosemary into fresh dough as she prepares new loaves to serve up alongside orders at the store the next day, a new business venture she’s taken up recently and one that seems to have the business faring moderately well. And if a few people here and there have been claiming to feel lighter and more positive after eating Rose’s food, then no one yet has pointed them out as anything more than well baked goods causing a nice placebo effect. It’s an almost effortless job for Rose at this point, her work so well-tuned and easily hidden in plain sight under the nose’s of the village’s people, and Dave can hear her humming to herself as she works. In his chest there’s still that weird, tugging ache, but he finds it easy to bury underneath the simple calmness of the evening, and he pushes all thoughts of demons aside as he watches the light pinks and oranges of the sky slowly darken to purple overhead.

As full darkness finally falls, bringing with it a harsher cold wind that starts to bite at his face, Dave finally stands up from where he’s been kneeling in the borders tending to the plants for the last half an hour, slings the basket of collected herbs over his arm, and heads inside into the warmth.

“Thank you,” Rose says the second he steps in through the back door, reaching out to take the basket from him and looking down into it with an approving nod. For more exotic herbs and ingredients for the more elaborate of Rose’s concoctions, they often have to wait for market days, or for the next time one of them will take a trip over to a neighbouring village or even the distant port, but for now the last of the herbs are flourishing through the seasons under Rose’s careful eye, and their shelves are stocked with most necessities.

“Get yourself to bed,” Rose tells him, watching him with a careful gaze as he slips further into the kitchen and shrugs off his jacket to throw it over the back of a chair, “It’s been a long day.”

“I’m fine,” Dave protests, not quite ready to withdraw to the empty solitude of his own bedroom yet. He follows his jacket down onto the rickety chair, rubbing at his eyes for a moment as Rose simply begins to pace the kitchen with a quiet sigh. And then, for a long moment, there’s a pause. Dave shuts his eyes and tilts his head back, letting the quiet wash over him as Rose begins to move something carefully around somewhere near the stove, and he’s almost drifting off into a half sleep when something is set heavily down onto the table in front of him. One half-opened eye introduces him to a tankard of something steaming and strongly scented now sitting there, and he scoops it up with a question, raising it to take a sip as Rose watches on. The sharp scent of bergamot washes over his tongue, and Dave winces a little as he swallows down the first sip. Rose’s stress remedies are unmistakable: harsh and biting, quick to the point and highly effective. He’s never liked citrus, though. 

“Drink it,” Rose says quietly as Dave goes to lower the tankard, “You won’t rest tonight otherwise.” She’s right, knows him so uncomfortably well Dave would almost think she could hear his thoughts if she hadn’t insisted so many times before that her powers don’t extend that far, but still leaves the tankard sitting there on the table for a moment. Only when he finally reaches for it again under Rose’s careful gaze are they both suddenly distracted by a loud knocking at the door.

In an instant, Dave watches Rose’s body language change, eyes widening in alarm. “It’s late,” she murmurs quietly, “This isn’t a social call.” Again there’s another knock, this one louder and quicker, frantic almost. Rose reaches quickly for the nearest sharp thing, grabbing hold of a single knitting needle from the table, and then she’s off towards the door, shoes striking the floor as sharply as ever as she strides off. Within a second, Dave’s up from his seat then, and hurrying after her, wishing he had a sword to hand but not quite with enough time to find one. Still, the knocking continues, painfully loud through the otherwise silent house, and Dave sees Rose pause for a moment and ready herself before she reaches out to open it.

“Shut the fucking door!” A strangely familiar voice shouts the second Rose opens it up, and a person past her and inside, “Shut it now!” Dave vaguely manages to recognise the person as Karkat right before the demon barrels straight into him, a riled up ball of all anxious energy and fear. Dave steps back, reaching out for a second until his hands find Karkat’s shoulders and steadies him, just as Rose slams the door and locks it, then turns towards them, confused.

“Karkat?” Dave asks after a second, when Karkat isn’t breathing quite so rapidly and has finally looked up at him, “You’re back? What-”

“No time,” Karkat snaps, “I couldn’t just leave you two here not when -”

“When what?” Rose asks, “What’s going on?”

“Hunters,” Karkat breathes out, “In town.”

“We know, they’re always lingering,” Rose says, and Karkat shakes his head insistently, his hair seeming to have fluffed up even more than usual out of fear.

“More,” he breathes out, “Loads of them hunters and slayers and anyone with a grudge, they’re all here. And there’s more headed in. Apparently word got out that there’s been a few cases in the area. It’s gonna be a mass hunt. There’s no way you guys will get out alive.”

Karkat’s words send a heavy weight plummeting straight into the pit of Dave’s stomach, and he lifts his head slowly in time to catch Rose’s eye just as he watches some part of her world crumble around her. For years they’ve know this was coming, but he knows Rose has been trying to deny it. Part of her will always be the child who daydreamed of a time when everyone was accepted no matter their practice.

Karkat whirls around to face her then. “Rose you have to believe me,” he says, “I know you don’t trust me, but just this time-”

“I trust you,” Rose tells him quietly, her voice uncomfortably reserved even for her, “How many have you seen?”

“I couldn’t count,” Karkat says, “But there are camps set up around the town. It’s not just this town being targeted, the whole county is. The energy’s getting heavier, there’s too much closing in.”

“Oh, I’ve been so foolish,” Rose sighs softly, and when she turns to Dave again there are crystal tears shining in her eyes, “Dave I am so sorry. I’ve been so selfish, so stupid, so -”

“No you haven’t,” Dave tells her, “What do you mean?”

“I’ve known this was coming for some time,” Rose admits shakily, and Dave’s stomach ties itself into further knots, “It was nothing much, just whispers on the wind, messages among the web, but I didn’t trust it. I thought we could stay here, I wanted to stay here, and I put that ahead of our safety. We won’t get out now. They’ve been trying to track whatever parts of our family they can find for years.”

“Your family are powerful, aren’t they?” Karkat asks, and Rose turns to him with a glimmer of something akin to amusement in her eyes.

“More than you could ever know,” she says, “We can’t allow our bloodline to be lost. This place, it’s our last hope.”

“Your web,” Dave suggests, “The others, like us, surely they can help.”

Rose falls silent then for a moment, and breathes out a sharp hiss of what sounds almost like hope, or relief, the tiniest of smiles picking up the corner of her mouth. “We have to pack. Quickly. Only necessities. Once we leave, we can’t come back, it’ll be too suspicious that we left in the first place,” she dictates suddenly with no other explanation, “Karkat, do you think you can track their energy enough to lead a path out of here without us getting caught.”

“I can but -”

“Then it’s agreed,” Rose says, “I might know somewhere, but we have to get there soon. We leave before dawn.”

“You want me to come?” Karkat asks then, asking what Dave had found almost just about to question as well.

With the smallest sigh, Rose turns towards Karkat, and blinks back the last of her tears, face smoothed now into her usual cool mask, a stubborn determination in the tiny frown lines under her eyes. “Of course,” she says, “Magick is a family. And family means no man left behind. Now get packing, both of you!” And with that, the house erupts into chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha umm long time no see, oops?? i have no excuse other than 'stupid brain got focused on other things and stopped thinking about homestuck'. anyway i dont wanna have to abandon this fic so im gonna do my best to keep it going but updates might be slow because i have classes and stuff to deal with now as well. but if youre actually still here and reading this fic, then hi, youre very cool thank you for being here <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS for the chapter ahead: blood, gore, violence, death, murder, a vague hint at childhood trauma, food & hunger

It takes a long time to scrape every necessity into the few bags they have around the house. Karkat remains by the front door for the entire night as they work, pacing back and forth, tail lashing angrily from side to side and hunched over on himself, his hair sticking up on end into a fluffy black cloud around him. Occasionally he’ll pause, head cocked to one side, listening to some signal neither Dave nor Rose can quite hear, and every time Dave feels his breath catch in his throat, terrified Karkat’s about to inform them they’ve got only minutes left to live. But then the demon will shake his head roughly, as if clearing his thoughts, and go back to his restless pacing, as Rose tosses things from side to side in the kitchen.

“There’s no coming back from this,” she murmurs at one point, paused by the kitchen window and looking back out at the garden, “This is the end.”

Dave lets a hand lay gently on one of her shoulders and feels it shudder gently as she takes in a shaky breath. He knows, more than anyone, the fights Rose has suffered to make this home her own. Once, the cottage belonged to her mother, the area’s most powerful Seer and Sorceress, until she’d vanished into nowhere some years ago, while a young Rose was stuck in a distant boarding school in an attempt to hide her away from the world and keep her safe. Despite their strained relationship, this cottage is all Rose has left of her mother.

“Mum wouldn’t want me to risk everything just for a house,” Rose says quietly, “But we have nothing but this. I can’t be the one to lead my family into nothingness.”

Dave heaves a heavy sigh. “Rose,” he murmurs, “I had far less before you found me. Just the fact that I had a sister alone was good enough for me after years of...well, you know. I’d follow you into anything as long as it means I don’t have to be alone again. And anyway,” he adds, reaching across the table for his nicest sword and lifting the blade carefully, “If you can’t do it, then I’ll lead us. We’re gonna get through this, okay?”

Rose turns, and looks up at him, her faintly purple flickering up from the blade to his own eyes, and then dipping her head in a small nod of recognition. “Okay,” she murmurs quietly. And then, with a deep sigh of her own, she clasps her hands together in front of her, and lets her head loll backwards slightly. Dave watches, always still just a little unnerved. As much as he knows how powerful of a Seer Rose is, it’s easy to forget when she does such a good job of masquerading as just a simple healer. But then her eyes slip back into her head a little, hands tightening around each other for the briefest of seconds, and then she falls back into reality.

“Half an hour more,” she says quietly, “See what you can carry. We’ll find a carriage soon, but for now on foot will have to do.”

“Carriage?” Dave asks, “We’ll get recognised.”

“I’ve got a plan,” Rose says, “Just get the stuff.” And maybe it’s the harshness of Rose’s voice contrasted with the soft teariness of her eyes, or maybe it’s the clear panic filling up the room’s air, whatever it is, he feels something force him to shut his mouth and get back to work. And so he does it.

They can’t take much, the three of them only being able to carry certain amounts, and none of them wanting to take so much stuff that it’ll slow them down, and so they grab together the basic necessities, and get it ready to go. By the time they've packed, unpacked, and repacked things, deliberating over what counts as necessity and what would be ridiculous to pack, the sun’s starting to rise in the sky. Karkat’s still at the door like a guard dog when Rose finally buttons the last bag closed and comes to a halt by the kitchen table.

“That’s that, then,” she says a little shakily. Dave casts his eyes around at the half-destroyed kitchen, their bottles of medicine scattered across the counters and pot plants pushed aside from their usual spots, coats thrown across the tops of stacked bags. “Dave,” Rose says quietly, “Is there anything else you need?”

He shakes his head. Thinking about it too much will make him spiral back into the repacking again, he thinks, and so he keeps his eyes fixed down as Rose does a last circle of the cottage, leaning into rooms as she checks through things. When she enters her own bedroom, she’s in there for a long time, and when she finally comes back out, after such a while that Dave almost considers going in to check she’s okay, she’s gently clipping a locket around her neck. Dave knows the locket well. There are two photos in it, one of Rose’s mother and one of Rose herself at a young age, originally a present to Rose when she was first sent away to boarding school. She sees him looking, and nods once at him, before passing over his best red and gold travelling cloak, before shrugging on her own, black and embellished with dark purple and silver lace, the nicest items either of them own. Another of their spare cloaks, grey and soft, has already been given to Karkat, who had taken it gratefully despite it being far too oversized for, and is now wearing it where he waits by the door.

“Let’s go,” Rose says, “If the hunters are all here already, I can only imagine the hunt starts at dawn.”

Dave looks around one last time then. His eyes linger, for a moment, on the fireplace in the living room, and a small stool placed beside it. For a moment, he’s back at that very first night that Rose brought him here, when she finally managed to break him out. He’d been freezing cold and soaked from a day of walking in the rain, shivering in a thin cloak, only to be passed a bowl of warm soup by Rose that soothed his starving stomach as she watched him with a gentle eye. It was the first time since he was very young that he’d been anywhere that felt truly like a home. Comfort had never come easy in his life, but the cottage that soon became his own home too felt even from that first moment like a haven from the harsh world he’d once known.

Despite himself, Dave finds a tear streaking down his cheek, and he swipes it away gently with the back of one hand before he turns again to Rose, and tries to match the harshly determined look on her face. If there’s one thing he can do now, it’s look to Rose as a leader, like she’s always been for him.

“Karkat,” Rose says quietly, “You’re sure you can get us through the woods?”

Karkat finally leaves his position by the front door. His eyes are darkened now with tiredness and the lingering grip of fear, but he does his best to straighten up his posture and nod at her assuredly, and Dave can’t help the weird, almost protective feeling that washes over him as he watches the demon. When Rose turns to open up the back door to start dragging the bags out, he turns to Karkat, to find the demon staring straight at him.

“It’ll be okay Dave,” Karkat whispers quietly, “I’ll keep you two safe.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Dave replies, and karkat lets out a small huff of sad laughter.

“I’ve got nothing better to do,” he says, and then he turns as Rose comes back in to take his share of the bags as they’re passed over, and hurries on out into the cold morning air.

“Dave?” Rose asks quietly, watching him continue to stare distantly at a single bottle of Rose’s signature cough medicine sitting on their counter.

He shakes himself from his thoughts and turns to look at her. “I’m coming,” he tells her, and then reaches out to saddle the rest of the bags onto his back. The back door stills stands open, and he leaves Rose alone in the kitchen for a moment as he steps out of the cottage, possibly for the last time, and joins Karkat in the garden. Moments later, when the sound of the door clicking shut gently echoes through the garden, Dave takes one last glance back at the cottage, now dark aside from one candle left burning low on the windowsill just in case, and then follows Rose into the woods out the back away from the village.

*****

The journey isn’t easy going. Dave hadn’t expected it to be, knowing enough of the tricky terrain of the woods to expect a struggle along with the weight of the bags they’re carrying, but it’s still uncomfortable nonetheless, and he finds with every moment that they walk just a little too slow for his liking that he can’t help worrying that they’re going to be caught any moment. He doesn’t voice his fears, aware they’re all thinking the same way, feeling it in the silent tension crackling between the two of them, and follow Rose as she leads them ahead, up higher and higher into the hills. There’s no need for speech between them. Dave doesn’t know what any of them would say even if they were speaking. He’s aware Rose is crying silent, doing her best to stay stoic but failing miserably, and he ignores it for her own sake, not wanting to call her out on it, though he’s sure they’re all as aware of it as he is.

As the sun rises, the forest becomes almost beautiful. The forest is busy with life, and Dave watches a few birds in the branches to their left for a moment as they pass by, almost finding some sort of solace in the simplicity of it all. And with Karkat’s tracking skills, they give a wide berth to any camps of people, hunters or other, and get through it fine. Within a few hours, they start to find small roads through the forest, and Dave can see, off in the distance on the peak of one hill, the familiar sight of chimneys and the very tops of roofs, a village they’ll do their best to avoid for now. He hangs back a little as they keep hiking, starting to struggle under the weight of the overly packed bags, and watches ahead as Karkat and Rose start to talk strangely quietly amongst themselves. Whatever they’re talking about, it strikes Dave as a little strange to find the two of them seemingly conspiring together as they walk. However, he can’t help feeling just the slightest feeling of relief in the pit of his stomach at the fact that at least for now the two of them are getting along.

And then finally, after what feels like forever of walking, Rose veers suddenly towards a certain path through the forest without a word.

“Where are we headed?” Dave asks, aware now she’s heading for something very specific. 

“There’s a small road, not far from here,” Rose says, “For travellers, merchants mostly, the occasional nobleman aiming to steer away from the busier roads. If we’re going to catch a carriage anywhere, it’ll be there.”

“We’re just going to flag one down?” Dave asks, and doesn’t like the subtle shared look between Rose and Karkat that he gets as a silent answer. He keeps his thoughts to himself and keeps walking, a little disturbed by the silent camaraderie that seems to already be developing between Karkat and Rose.

Finally, they reach the road, and Rose pauses them in the woods a little while away. Dave and Karkat linger back as they watch her step forward and inspect the road, looking from side to side a few times before shrinking back into the trees.

“Now we wait for a carriage,” she says, and then gestures them over as she heads towards a particular thick patch of shrubbery just along from a sharp corner in the road, and then, surprising Dave entirely, ducks down and scrambles halfway into the high bushes. Dave glances over at Karkat, just in time to see the demon shrug before he plunges after Rose, and all Dave can do is follow. 

Settled into their uncomfortable hiding spot crouched in the shrubbery, Rose hushes them both into silence as she watches the road for any sign of life. The sun is well up by now, and Dave’s a little thankful for both the light and the warmth as they wait for a good long time, Karkat sat still and silent on the ground by his side, tracing little circles in the dirt with his claws.

And then, finally, with the chorus of hooves and rattling wheels, a carriage makes its way slowly around the corner, the driver careful of bumps and potholes from his seat up front. Sleek black and shining, drawn by two dappled grey horses, their coats glossy and smooth, the carriage is far too nice for anything from their little village. A traveller from further up North, then, and less likely to recognise them.

“Perfect,” Rose hisses under her breath, posture straightening as she goes to take a step out of the bushes.

“Rose,” Dave warns, “Careful. We need a plan.”

“We have one,” Rose replies, and then glances over at Karkat, whose face is set into some grim mask of unfortunate understanding as he surveys the scene.

One of his ears twitches, tracking a sound. “There’s another carriage ten minutes away,” Karkat says, “We’ll have to be quick.” The carriage approaches closer, and Rose nods.

“We will be,” she assures, and then she’s up on her feet and moving. “Follow Karkat’s lead!” Rose calls over her shoulder, and Dave finds he can’t bring himself to ask just how the two seem so in sync with a plan never discussed. He just watches curiously as Rose adjusts the hood of her cloak, and then steps out, directly into the centre of the road.

The carriage screeches to a halt, horses throwing back their heads and their hooves sliding across loose ground as the driver pulls them back. Rose stands, defiant, before the carriage, watching the driver with a careful, silent eye.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” The driver shouts, “Get out the road!” Still, Rose is silent.

“There are two passengers in the cab,” Karkat whispers quietly to Dave, “A fairly wealthy man and a servant boy. The servant will be sent out first to investigate. When he gets out, you take care of him. Don’t follow me, don’t move until you see the servant, got it?”

“Karkat, what are we -”

“I said, got it?” Karkat snaps, and jerks his head in the direction of Rose, still stock still in the centre of the road, the driver making his way down from his seat to approach her.

“Yes,” Dave says, and watches, with the dark realisation of what’s to come, as Karkat pulls his cloak tighter around his face and leaps from the bushes directly at the driver. Dave presses his eyes shut for a second, swallowing heavily around adrenaline and nerves. There’s the scuffle of feet on gravel, and a loud shout, followed by the heavy impact of people hitting the floor. His eyes open again to find Karkat pinning the driver to the ground. His hood’s already fallen back, the driver’s eyes wide as he peers up at the demon, and Dave knows there’s no going back now. All witnesses must be cleared. Rose stands impassively above the scene as the driver lets out a ghoulish, howling scream, and the first few sprays of blood hit the floor. And then the door to the carriage swings open, and Dave swallows again, pushing past hot waves of nausea. His hand falls to his sword. He doesn’t want to do this.

He has to do this.

A servant boy, no older than Dave probably, jumps from the cab and looks around, panicking when his eyes find the morbid scene on the floor that Dave can no longer bring himself to look at. He slides his sword from his sheath in a horrible final decision, and rushes out from the bushes. 

For a second, the boy’s eyes light up, like he’s expecting help, and then he sees Dave’s sword and panics. Dave readies a swing, closes his eyes as the blade slices downwards, and feels the impact shudder through his arms as he meets not soft flesh but another blade. He opens his eyes again, and finds the servant staring up at him, determined, his arms shaking as he holds back Dave’s blade with his own. Dave hadn’t been expecting any retaliation, but he accepts it, bringing his blade back up and quickly out again, parrying another few blows and forcing the opponent back towards the wall of the carriage. Fear and determination fuel him, the innate urge to protect his family drives him as it always has done, and he swings a last few blows, knocking the boy of balance, and finally, finally, knocking the sword straight from his grip. The boy stumbles back against the carriage just as the door opens and the other passenger makes his way out.

“Now, Dave!” Karkat screams from somewhere, and he sees a blur of grey in the corner of his vision as the demon flashes past towards the open door. Dave turns, back to the boy, the boy who did nothing wrong but be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and falters slightly at the fear in his eyes. He thinks of his own fear for all those years, under the reign of a man with a power complex and too many swords, and surprises himself with his sudden teary vision. But then he hears it, a murmuring from a little way off: Rose keeping the horses calm. Rose who rescued him all those years back, Rose who’s been as much a mother as she has been a sister. Rose who’ll die if she doesn’t get far away from here. With a snarl of frustration, he raises the sword and crowds in closer to the boy against the carriage, eyes closing again. And as he brings the sword down one last time, he prays that if there really is a god watching that they won’t see him turn out just like his brother did in the end.

“Carriage, now,” Karkat’s voice snarls in his ear the second Dave feels his sword pull back from the slumping body, and he tears his own vision away from the bloody scene at his feet as he’s pushed up the stairs and into the now empty carriage.

Collapsing down onto the seat, his hands shaking, Dave pers out, watching Karkat hurry to help Rose drag the last of three bodies into the deep undergrowth at the side of the road.

“Two minutes!” He hears Karkat warn Rose as they hurry back towards the carriage, dragging all the bags with them, the horses still standing almost impossibly still. And then Karkat throws himself into the back of the carriage with Dave and the last of their bags, pulling the door shut with a slam as Rose scrambles into the driver’s seat and whips the horses up into a frenzy.

There’s blood on the road still as the carriage shudders away, seeping into dust and gravel with a deep claret stain that will stick for days.The next carriage to pass by will know something is wrong, and Dave’s unsurprised as the carriage makes a sudden turn, straight into the trees, branches smacking at the window as if desperate to get in. The last of the adrenaline leaches out of his bloodstream, and he slumps in the sudden exhaustion of it, vaguely recognising the sound of his sword falling to the floor with a dull metallic clang.

“Dave,” Karkat says quietly, and Dave looks up to find Karkat sitting on the seat opposite. He’s in worse condition than Dave, his face and hands streaked with blood, his cloak torn in several places, but looking far more relaxed.

“You’re a mess,” Dave tells him roughly, hiding the breaking of his voice and several layers of carefully applied irritation, reaching deep into one pocket for a handkerchief and tossing it over. 

“Thanks,” Karkat grunts, instantly taking up the soft white cloth to stain it red as he wipes his face. “Dave, you did good,” he says after a moment, as he tries to blot the worst of a stain out of his trousers, “We should have told you the plan more but -”

“How did you and Rose even agree on that?” He snaps, “You two never discussed the plan and yet you both knew exactly what to do. Yesterday she hated you, and now you go in on murder plots together?”

“Rose and I are alike in mind if nothing else,” Karkat replies, “I can read her energy, and she knows what people are thinking if she tries hard enough. We both knew we’d have to do whatever it took, and we did it. But you...your morals rattle you more. We knew it would have to be a life or death situation for you to drop them.”

“So you manipulated me?” Dave asks, voice cold.

“It wasn’t like that,” Karkat sighs, “We just had to -”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Dave says, and sinks further back into his seat, eyes closing again, “I don’t want to think about it ever again.” But as the coach rattles onwards, lumbering over roots and uneven forest floor, all he sees behind his own closed eyes is the face of a boy who didn’t need to die.

“You used to be a knight,” he hears Karkat say, and his stomach ties itself into knots.

“Shut up!” He snaps, “I don’t know how you know that, but don’t you ever mention that again, okay?” There’s silence then, and Dave presses his eyes closed further and wishes the world away for just a moment. In the crash of energy after the fighting, it’s unsurprising how fast he falls into an uneasy sleep.

*****

They travel for hours, midday coming and going as Dave dozes on and off, exhausted after long hours of travelling and then fighting. At one point, he’s startled awake by the jolt of a carriage over a particularly large bump in the road, and finds Karkat asleep on the seat opposite, curled up on his side rather than still sitting like Dave is. He blinks tiredly at him for a few moments, sighing a little at the few patches of darkened blood still staining the demon’s cloak, and then his head lolls sideways against the window again, and he falls back into a deep sleep again.

By the time Rose shakes him awake, the carriage is stopped in the centre of a thick forest, having been somehow very carefully steered in amongst the tree by Rose’s careful hand, and the sun’s dropping low in the sky, barely even visible through the branches of the trees anymore.

“I need to rest,” she says, “We’ll stay here for tonight. We’re far enough from any roads.”

“Alright,” Dave says, seeing instantly the heavy weight of the circles under her eyes, and feeling a little guilty for letting her drive for so long, despite his complete lack of skill in driving horses. 

“Wake Karkat,” she says with a small nod, “We need to light a fire.” And then she disappears back out of the carriage, and he hears her starting to move things around outside.

“Karkat,” Dave calls, shaking Karkat’s shoulder as he crouches closer to the opposite seat, and leans back a little when the demon startles awake and snarls up at him for a second before realising where he is.

“What?” Karkat asks quietly.

“Stopping for the night,” Dave says, “Rose needs to sleep. Gonna make a fire, and I guess the two of us should keep a guard for a while.”

The demon blinks slowly at him for a long moment as he puts the pieces together in his tired mind, and then nods as everything falls into place. “Right, yeah, let's do that,” he says with a nod, and then he too is disappearing out of the carriage, Dave left to follow behind.

*****

It doesn’t take them long to set up a camp of sorts. Rose divides up parts of their food rations into the best meal she can make, and then heads back into the carriage to sleep after eating her own food, leaving Dave and Karkat alone in the darkening forest.

“Are you okay?” Karkat asks after a long few minutes of silence have dragged out. 

Dave picks slowly at the piece of bread in his hand before he looks up at him. “I’m fine,” he says with a small sigh, “I just…”

“I know,” Karkat says, “But every war has its innocent casualties. Trust me, I would know.” His face darkens for a moment, before he seems to shake the thoughts away, and looks back over at Dave slowly.

Dave decides to gloss over that, not one for pressing others about information about their past. “Is that what this is then?” He asks instead, “War?”

Karkat shrugs. “That’s what the humans consider it,” he says, “War against people like you, creatures like me. If they consider it war, why shouldn’t we?”

“I’d rather they just...leave us alone,” Dave sighs.

“They won’t,” Karkat says with a shake of his head, “Maybe one day there’ll be some sort of reform, more acceptance of people like us, but...in our lifetimes? Maybe not.”

“Aren’t you immortal?” Dave asks, and gets a scoff in reply.

“A lower demon like me? Absolutely not,” Karkat says with a shake of his head, “And one that’s been kicked out of hell, at that. I haven’t even got a chance at immortality without the higher demons to charge my powers.”

“That’s a thing you need?” 

Karkat huffs softly. “You really don’t know a thing about demons, do you Strider?” He asks.

“I guess not,” Dave replies, unable to stop the small, slightly fond smile that spreads across his face as he watches Karkat laugh softly, tucking his legs closer up to his chest against the cold and laughing down into his knees.

Karkat looks over at him after a moment with a smile of his own. “You’ve got a lot to learn, Strider,” he says with an amused shake of his head.

“Tell me about hell, then,” he says, a sentence he’d never thought he’d say, and is surprised when Karkat agrees, and begins to describe the life he once led. Karkat continues to speak for a long tiem, and soon, as they keep the fire burning and watch out for Rose as she sleeps in the carriage, they’re sharing small, mostly insignificant stories of their lives as the shadows press in around them. And eventually, Rose wakes when there’s still a few hours to go until morning, insisting they too get some sleep and leave her to stand guard for a moment, and they curl back up on their separate seats in the warmth of the carriage away, Dave easily slipping back into an even more comfortable sleep than the previous.

*****

An hour or so later, though, Dave’s jolted awake by a noise outside. He sits upright, heart racing, and looks around him. He could have sworn he heard a noise from one of the horses, an awful, screaming whinny of a noise. He takes a few deep breaths, calming himself, and then carefully picks up an oil lantern from the floor, and lights it.

“Karkat,” Dave calls quietly, looking around him as the lantern’s light fills the carriage, “Karkat. Wake up. Karkat.”

“Wh-” comes the tired grumble finally, and he watches Karkat stir on the seat opposite, “D’ve… Wha-”

“Ssh,” Dave hushes the slurred mumbling of the sleepy demon, “Someone’s moving around outside.”

“Pro’ly Rose,” Karkat mumbles, and then stretches out his limbs slowly before rubbing a hand tiredly at his eyes. When he speaks again, his speech is a little more put together. “Seriously, probably just Rose. Go check.”

“Didn't sound like Rose,” Dave says darkly, “I thought I heard a horse scream.”

“Horses don’t scream,” Karkat mutters, and then drapes one arm tiredly across his face, moving to roll back over and back to sleep.

“Oh no you don’t,” Dave tells him, “If I’m going out there you’re going with me.”

The demon stares at him for a few moments with a tired frown, and then lets out a reluctant sigh. “Ugh, fine,” he groans softly, slowly lifting himself up from the seat and reaching for the carriage door, “Come on then.” And with a slight deep intake of breath to steel himself, Dave watches as Karkat opens up the door, and then the two step out into the darkness.

It takes a moment for Dave’s eyes to adjust to the light, even with the lantern’s help, but finally, after a few moments of looking around, he finds Rose, sat by the side of the carriage. She’s slumped back against it, and for a movement his heart rate spikes in panic, but then he spots the steady rise and fall of her chest, and the relaxed nature of her face, and realises she’s only asleep. With a deep sigh, he moves a foot and carefully jostles her with it until she wakes.

“What?” Rose grumbles tiredly, wincing up into the lantern’s bright light.

“You fell asleep,” Dave tells her, “I told you you should have slept through the whole night inside, Karkat and I could have stood guard the whole time.”

“And I told you I’m fine!” Rose snaps back. Beside him, Dave hears a huff from Karkat, and then the sound of the demon strolling a little while away from them, seemingly sensing a brewing argument.

“Rose, we need a guard,” Dave says, “If you can't stay awake, then just say that. You haven’t got to pretend to be this strong leader all the time.”

“Someone’s got to look after you!” Rose snaps back, and Dave huffs.

“I am not a child!” Dave retorts.

“Hey, guys,” Karkat calls, as the siblings continue to bicker amongst themselves, “Guys!”

What?” Rose asks, finally turning to face him.

“Rose, where are the horses?” Karkat asks. Dave’s blood runs ice cold as he lifts the lantern in the direction of the tree they bound the horses too, and finds it empty. When he glances back over, he finds Rose staring in the same direction, her mouth slightly ajar, and then she holds a hand out for the lantern, which he passes over quickly.

“Damn,” Dave breathes out as he watches his sister carefully approach the tree, and crouch at its base, looking at something on the ground, “You reckon they broke free? Must have been what I heard. Karkat?” He turns towards where Karkat was just a second ago, only to find the demon a few feet away, half concealed in the shadows of the trees, staring off into the distance with his ears twitching and the tip of his tail lashing from side to side. “Karkat?” He calls again.

“Hey Dave,” Rose calls, distracting him from whatever Karkat’s up to. As she approaches, he holds something up, and he recognises the heavy ropes they used to bind the horse’s bridles to the tree. As she gets closer and the lantern light shines on it, he finds the edge of the ropes cut too neatly to have been torn by horses.

“Shit,” Dave curses, and doesn’t get the usual tut in reply from Rose, just a darkly concerned stare. “Hey, Karkat, come look at this!” He calls.

“Shut up!” Karkat hisses.

“What?”

“I said shut your dumb mouth and get back to the carriage, now!” Karkat snaps, hurrying closer and reaching out two hands to grab Dave and Rose by their sleeves and drag them in towards him to whisper. “We’re not alone out here. Someone’s watching us.”

“You’re sure?” Rose asks calmly before Dave can even begin to respond in panic.

“Certain,” Karkat replies.

“Must be whoever took the horses,” Dave says.

“Mmh,” Karkat hums in agreement, “But the real question is, why didn’t they leave once they got what they came for?” 

A silence lingers for a moment after his words as the three of them simultaneously turn to face the tree the horses had once been tied to. And then, through the stillness of the night, comes the sound of crunching. Footsteps over the forest floor.

“Everyone into the carriage! Now!" Rose hisses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as with all my works, this one went off the rails really quick. all fics for me are in some way practices and exercises, and this for me is going to be more practice in writing action and battle, so there's probably going to be a lot more of that. there's also some morally grey stuff going on here um these guys are not always gonna be good heroes.   
> okay anyway i actually just got finished with another longer fic i was writing, so ive got more time for this fic and more enthusiasm for it now, so expect more regular updates hopefully (i won't make any promise tho because we know that never works)  
> as usual, thanks for reading, lemme know what you thought in a comment if you feel like it, comments are always super appreciated and really make my day. have a good day guys! - C <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS for the chapter ahead: more fighting and violence, threats of killing, blood and injury, kidnap/capture

Dave, at the back of the group, takes a few stumbling steps backwards as quietly as he can, until his heel hits the step up to the carriage, and he quickly turns to haul himself upwards. He’s stopped halfway up, though, by the sound of the footsteps reaching them, and a low stifled gasp from Rose. Dread forcing its way into his heart, he turns back just in time to watch four hooded figures step into the small clear area they’ve set up camp in. Dave swallows thickly. He’d recognise those dark black hoods and leather boots and harnesses anywhere; bounty hunters.

In as quick of an action as he can manage, he swipes his sword from the floor of the carriage, and spins it round in his hand, before jumping back down from the carriage and landing between Rose and Karkat. The demon, thankfully, has had the good sense to pull his hood back up, making use of its oversized nature to cover his entire face.

“What business have you here?” Rose calls out after a few moments, when the bounty hunters have done nothing but stand a few feet away and watch them carefully. Her voice, as ever, slips into its careful, customer service patter when faced with someone threatening, all perfect grammar and polite language.

“Looking for the carriage,” grunts one of them after a moment, a deep male voice that rumbles through the empty night, “You stole it. You murdered.”

“We simply found the carriage and made use of lost property,” Rose replies as calmly as ever, no stranger to concealing the truth by this point in her life.

“Liar!” Another voice hisses, this one female, and younger maybe. Dave swings his sword carefully in the direction of that one bounty hunter as she takes a step forward from the rest of the group, only to be dragged back by one of the others.

“I have no wish for a fight tonight,” Rose says, “Take the carriage and go back home. I am sure you will be paid handsomely.”

“Rose,” Dave calls warningly. He’s met enough of these people in his life, especially in his time as his brother’s protégé, to know that they don’t work purely for pay. They’re blood-thirsty killers convinced into making their anger into a business venture rather than senseless killing. They’re paid in blood.

“We will not leave without you,” the youngest hunter says, taking a step forwards once again, this time not stopped by her companions, and reaching down to her belt for a short sword, “If you will not come, then we will fight.”

“Rose,” Dave calls again, unnerved by his sister’s silence.

His sister stands a little longer, contemplative, and then, quick as a cat, slips a hand into the deep pocket of her cloak and produces her own dagger, ornate and with a carefully carved handle. Dave’s seen it before, carried by Rose even when she has no intent to use it, used mostly in her spellwork, and knows there’s something a little more to the blade than simple human metal work. If Rose intends to use the dagger today, this fight must be serious.

The minute the blade is drawn, the hunters react. The other three draw out their own weapons, a mismatched cluster of random, cheap blades, and charge. Old instinct in Dave kicks in, and he steps forward past Rose quickly, swinging his blade in a quick arc as he faces all four of them. Then, in a second, Rose is by his side. Her dagger is small, dangerously small for close contact fighting, but she steps forward with determination, dodging a few blows aimed at her by the young female fighter. Trusting his sister to take care of herself, Dave focuses himself on the others, parrying a few easy blows before he manages to get a strike in one man’s shoulder. There’s a yowl of pain as the blade just about gets through the thick leather of his tunic. Not a fatal injury, but a damaging one nonetheless. As that man stumbles back, Dave aims a quick jabat another man, barely grazing his upper arm, and then swings on another, missing and stumbling over the uneven ground. Karkat’s got his back, though, and the second the man lunges at an unbalanced Dave the demon lunges right back and knocks him straight to the ground.

There’s a shout from beside Dave, and he turns to find Rose on the ground, trapped under her opponent and bleeding from a gash on her face. Her hand falls limp to the side, the dagger lost somewhere in the grass. Dave heaves a regretful sigh. He had known Rose wasn’t a trained fighter, and yet somehow her confidence always tricks him into a false sense of security.

“Get off her!” He snarls, reaching down with one arm and grabbing onto the hunter’s shoulder, flipping her sideways down onto the ground, just about dodging her blade. The second she’s on the floor, sprawled on her back, Dave presses the point of his sword to her throat, keeping her down until Rose is safely up on her feet.

“Karkat!” Rose breathes out, and Dave spins around again to find Karkat trying to battle of all three of the others. All three of them, he realises, are completely outnumbered and outmatched here. With an irritated sigh, he throws himself forwards back into the fight, a little reassured by the sound of Rose tackling her opponent back down to the ground behind him, and starts swinging randomly at the hunters, forcing them off of Karkat. He’s barely gotten the demon to a safe distance, though, when he hears a strangled scream, and panics further when he sees all three other hunters suddenly lower their weapons. Together, him and Karkat turn to find Rose, struggling in the grip of the youngest hunter, sword pressed against her throat.

“You come with us or I slit the pretty girl’s throat,” the bounty hunter says, “Okay?”

“You get your hands off of her!” Comes the shout, not from Dave but from Karkat. The demon charges forwards suddenly towards Rose and her captor, face curved into a snarl, and that’s when his hood finally gives up on him and falls backwards. Instantly, Rose is dropped to the floor as all attention turns on Karkat. She lands on her knees in the dirt, breathing raggedly, hands clutching at clumps of grass in some desperate bid for strength.

“Monster!” Snarls one of the hunters as Karkat freezes in his step for a moment before fumbling to try and get his hood back up. It’s too late, though. The hunters close in on Karkat before either Rose or Dave can react, weapons drawn, grabbing at him. The demon circles, teeth bared and claws outstretched, fighting as always only with bare hands and sheer grit, but he’s too outnumbered. One hunter gets a lucky hit on Karkat’s shoulder, and he stumbles down to the ground, hands outstretched in an attempt to protect himself.

Dave makes a lunge, swinging his blade again and leaving Rose alone in the grass, too intent on freeing Karkat from the bounty hunters now forming a tight knit circle around him, their fists and weapons all aimed directly at him. For a second he manages to get through, breaking open a small gap in the circle, but then, out of nowhere, he sees a blade swing his way. His own sword is halfway through another maneuver, and without enough time to react he can only watch from the corner of his eye in absolute horror as the blade reaches him and hits his arm. The pain is instant, a sharp stinging that makes his entire arm go cold and numb, and he stumbles in his step, doing his best to continue clutching at his sword even as his own fingers fight back against him. A harsh kick is aimed and hits him directly in the back of the knee, so his legs fall out from under him, and he crumbles down into the dirt. The kicking continues, his sword slides finally from his grip, and all he can do is curl himself up into a tight ball as he listens to the vaguely relieving sound of Rose rejoining the fight with a shout of outrage. A heavy boot hits his nose then, and there’s a crack and the all too familiar rusty scent of blood along with a warm tingling feeling across his face.

“Dave!” He hears Rose shout, and then the hunter currently kicking at him lets out a yelp and falls to the floor, eyes rolling back in their head. Another hunter swoops in instantly, not to attack but to scoop up their injured and begin dragging them away with a desperate grunt, as Rose drops down to her knees by his side and begins trying to help him up.

“No, no,” Dave protests, shrugging her off, “Get Karkat.”

“Just get up!” Rose urges, hands sliding under his arms to try and lift him up. He drags himself up to his feet with a deep sigh, unsteady for a moment until he leans a little more of his weight onto Rose, and then spins around as quickly as he can, trying to seek out Karkat’s exact position.

There’s a flurry of movement a short distance off, the shapes of figures moving in the trees and the grunts of combat, and he’s three paces towards it when the sudden blur of a panicked horse cuts across his path, almost trampling him.It’s one of theirs, it’s dappled pelt recognisable even in the low light, and he reaches for it almost desperately, but barely gets a chance to before ROse steps directly into its path. The horse instantly stumbles to a halt, hooves sliding through the torn up mud, and Rose reaches up to grab at its headcollar,reaching around for the long discarded ropes in a bid to try and secure the horse once again. Dave watches for a second before the shock wears off and his mind becomes clearer, and he’s back to searching for Karkat again. 

He finds nothing.

All signs of conflict in the area are gone, and all figures too. 

“Rose!” Dave calls, looking around desperately for both Karkat and his sword, “Rose where did they go?”

“Quiet!” Rose hisses, and he falls silent, watching as she turns her head from side to side, listening for something. Then they both hear it, the stumble of footsteps clumsy and dragging, far off.

“They must have Karkat, come on!” Dave calls, and then he’s running in that direction, weaponless but desperate, heart racing inside his chest. He doesn’t hear Rose behind him, but doesn’t stop. If he has to do this alone, he will.

For what feels like hours but is probably barely minutes, he runs desperately after the noise, but it soon disappears and becomes blurred, untraceable. Bounty hunters, he reminds himself, are dwellers of the forest. Once they get deep enough into it, he’ll never be able to find them again, and Dave certainly won’t be able to find his way back out. Still, he stumbles onwards, vaguely aware now of a shouting from behind him. 

“Dave! Dave!” He ignores the shouting until it’s right behind him, and then a hand closes around his wrist. He stumbles in place and wheels around to glare at Rose.

“Bounty hunters work in packs,” she reminds him levelly, “There’ll probably be more, we can’t stick around.”

“But Karkat -”

“Is a demon,” Rose says, “And can take care of himself. I don’t doubt he’s already out of their grip. Meanwhile we’re still human, and need to get out of here right now.”

Dave’s defiant for a second, staring her down, but then a loud cracking in the hushes behind them makes the weight of her words sink in, and he submits to her leadership once again with a reluctant devastation.

“Right, right, okay, yeah,” he babbles, mind still racing with fear for Karkat, wincing at the idea of the demon in the clutches of those awful bounty hunters. But when Rose sets off back towards the carriage, he just stumbles after her exhaustedly.

It takes far longer to get back to the carriage than he’d expected, and he finds himself wondering just how far he’d actually run. Finally, though, they find it in the small clear area of forest, the one remaining horse tied up to a tree and panicking, kicking and making its best attempt at rearing, head tossing around.

“We can take only what’ll fit in saddlebags,” Rose says, “Get the stuff from the carriage.”

“We’re not taking the carriage?” Dave asks, already halfway towards its doors.

“Too obvious now,” Rose says, “People are looking for it, it would be foolish to take it.”

Dave nods. Her words make enough sense to him, even in his adrenaline ridden brain, and he stumbles up into the carriage, beginning the process of tossing bags down to Rose on the ground with aching arms and a throbbing headache. It doesn’t take long, and nothing important has to be left behind, but he feels once again as they laid everything up that they’re leaving behind more and more of who they used to be with every step of this journey. He can only pray that Rose is right, and Karkat won’t stay in the grips of the bounty hunters for long. It’s not like a shape shifting demon is the easiest of things to contain. The carriage finally unpacked, he watches with grim determination as Rose tacks up the horse and then takes her seat in the saddle, a little further forwards than necessary to allow room for him as well.

“Come on, Dave,” Rose calls, from up on the saddle, tightening the reins in her hands to pull the horse back. He stands, waiting, he doesn’t know what for. Something feels wrong. Nothing feels real.

The horse spooks a little at nothing, and Rose steers it in a few sharp circles to allow it to use up some of that nervous energy.

“Now, Dave!” She calls, and he turns and reaches up for the saddle then as she slows the horse, pulling himself up into the saddle behind her. 

“They took Karkat,” he says quietly as Rose readies the horse.

“Yes,” Rose replies.

“What now?” He asks.

“We keep travelling,” she says, “And when we get to the safe house, we make a plan.”

“A plan for what?”

Rose shrugs lightly, and then taps her heels gently into the horse’s sides, enough to send the nervous creature bolting through the trees. Dave jolts forwards unsteadily for a few paces until he finds his balance, and lets out a long exhale as the forest starts to glide by.

“A plan for war, maybe,” he hears Rose say quietly after a long few minutes, “If that’s what this is.” The pit of fear in Dave’s stomach deepens as the horses dashes forward into the early dawn light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two days of updates in a row? i'm on a roll. making use of this writing inspo while i've got it. anyway um shorter chapter this time buttt next chapter you get to meet some more characters!! (including ms vampire herself, but ssh you didn't hear that spoiler from me). but yeah i'm really excited to bring some more of the heavier witchcraft-based characters into the story so i hope you'll stick around for that. have a good day my dudes - C <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS for this chapter: just a few mentions of injury and blood, some hints of past traumas, and like hunger and such as before

“We’ll need a good cover story, just in case anyone stops us to ask,” Rose says a few hours later. They’re sitting in the forest not far from the edge of a small village, Rose working on their wounds with careful, patient hands before they make their way into its streets.

“We’re just travelling siblings,” Dave says with a shrug, “Heading to a market.”

“No, no, too obvious,” Rose says, “Too easily picked apart if we make one wrong move. We need something that’ll give us some sort of power, and ensure they let us through.”

Any chance Dave had at thinking up an idea is instantly knocked straight out of his mind as Rose reaches up and, without warning, resets his nose. That’s definitely not going to heal quite right, Dave thinks with a wince, but nods at her in thanks for it as she wipes dried flecks of blood from her fingertips onto the grass.

“High ranking servants of an ailing noblewoman,” Rose says after a moment.

“What?”

“That’s our cover story. Our esteemed mistress is ill and her systems failing, we’re riding North with vital medicine that we hope we can get to her in time,” Rose explains, pulling a slightly disgusted face as she explains through it, Dave knowing just how much she hates the thought of working under anyone else’s thumb.

“Seems flimsy,” Dave says.

Rose nods, and then delves a hand into one deep pocket of her cloak, lifting out a few small medicine vials filled with a dark green liquid, waving them in Dave’s direction so that sunlight glances off of the crystal glass and scatters rainbows across the forest floor.

“Not with a little evidence and some good charm,” she says with a small grin, before pushing the medicine back into her pocket.

“If there’s one thing we can count on, it’s for you to have a good supply of medicine always on hand,” Dave laughs.

Rose smiles faintly at him, and then reaches out to check the chunky bandage wrapped around his upper arm one last time. The injury there is deep, but not dangerous as long as its kept in good care, and he can feel Rose’s handy work already starting to dull the pain, soon to be completely numb.

“Alright,” She says, “We need to get going again. The village isn’t far off, we may as well get there within the hour.” In an instant she’s on her feet and approaching the horse, who’s tied to a tree a little while off and grazing leisurely on a patch of lush green grass. Rose, already, has affectionately named the horse Maplehoof after her own childhood pony, and she calls out to it gently as she approaches it to free it from its ties. Dave follows after her at a slower pace, checking he’s still got his sword with him as ever before they leave. He’d come close to losing it at that last fight, and won’t let himself again.

“I hope they have a well,” Rose thinks aloud as she pulls herself up into the saddle, “We could do with some new fresh water supplies.” 

“Then let’s get there,” Dave says, swinging himself up onto the saddle space behind her, “The sooner we reach the safe house the better.” There’s a small hum of agreement from Rose before she kicks the horse onwards, and then they’re off at a slower pace through the last of the forest, turned towards the smoke plumes of that distant village.

*****

The village is lively when they finally make their way into it, people hurrying to and fro on the tiny cobbled streets with baskets of fruits and vegetables and other homemade goods. The sudden shouting of the market sellers in their best attempt to sell their wares spooks Maplehoof, but Rose calms her gently and presses onwards along the road, subconsciously hunching her shoulders just a little to let the hood of her cloak fall further over her face.

“We go directly to the centre of town, get what we need, and leave as quickly as we came,” Rose says quietly to him as they pass along a long street of neatly built houses. In the dusty brick yard between one house and the road, two children play in the dirt, hitting at a badly held together ball of straw and grass with wooden sticks, laughing despite the dirt on their face and clothes. Dave watches them for a second with a fond smile as they pass, and gets a gap-toothed grin in return from the younger of the two. After a moment, Rose pulls the horse to a halt at the edge of the town square, and they dismount.

“Here,” she says, passing over a few loose gold coins from another of her pockets, “Find us water. I have something I must do. Meet me back here in half an hour, and not a moment longer.”

“What do you need to do?” He asks.

“Don’t worry about it,” Rose says, looping Maplehoof’s reins around one hand and tugging the horse with her gently as she begins to move, “Get your water and return, nothing else need bother you right now.”

Rose gives him now time to answer, setting off down the road with the horse beside her, sparing no glance over her shoulder for Dave as she hurries away. And so he simply turns, and stalks towards the very centre of the village, alert at all times of the people surrounding and watching him, careful not to attract much attention.

It takes him less than ten minutes to find the town’s well. It’s in the very centre as he had expected, surrounded by a small crowd of people that lean over into its depths. He hurries towards it, their own metal tankards hanging from his belt, and takes his chance to jump in through a small break in the crowd to make a grab for the unused bucket sitting waiting at its side. And, when no one pays him even the slightest bit of attention, he sends the bucket spiralling downwards into the water below on a chain, thankful the recent seasons of rain have raised the water level higher than usual. It doesn’t take long for the bucket to fill, and he pulls it back up eagerly, the burn of his muscles working against the heavy, precarious bucket to bring it upwards familiar enough that it brings back old memories. It’s an easy chore, and one he’s been doing since his childhood, and as he begins to divide the water amongst their tankards his mind fills itself with images of dusty, bloodstained courtyards, and the desperate begging of the mindlessly thirsty for just a sip of water. Dave swallows back a wave of nausea as he fills the last of their containers, and turns quickly away, feeling suddenly too suffocated under the gaze of the unknown villagers.

It’s a warm day, pleasant enough despite the vaguely stifling material of his too-heavy travelling cloak, and Dave pauses for a moment, halfway between the well and their meeting place, to bask in its warmth. The familiar ache of travelling at the back of his mind presses in, the troubling exhaustion of long days out on the road, and the thought of returning back to the horse, back to yet more hours of riding, bothers him. And yet, he knows there’s not a part of him that would ever leave Rose, or make a wait a moment more than necessary. So he hurries for the meeting place with as much enthusiasm as it is possible to muster in the aftermath of two fights, a day of long travelling and the loss of a companion, allowing himself to focus only on the journey ahead.

Rose is already at the meeting place when he gets there, up in the saddle with her eyes trained desperately on the direction from which Dave approaches.

“Finally,” Rose breathes out, “Got water?”

“Yes, I’ve got it,” he tells her, “Everything okay?”

“Hmm,” Rose hums softly, “It’s okay enough as we can hope for it to be. Up.”

“What’s wrong?” Dave asks, the slight tension in her jaw enough to worry him.

“Nothing. Get up.”

Her words are snapped, harsh, and Dave obeys quickly, taking up his usual position in the saddle behind her, and feeling the horse jolt immediately into action. For a long few moments there’s silence, just the steady jolting of the horse’s quick canter and the huff of it’s breath into the air, and then Rose turns halfway over her shoulder to look at him.

“I heard word, from a news teller’s boy,” she says quietly, “Of home. Of the hunt.”

“How many?” Dave asks quietly, and sees the injury behind her eyes as she swallows heavily.

“Ten,” she replies, “None of them witches, nor magickal in any way. Just humans.”

“Then we made the right choice in leaving,” Dave says.

“Perhaps,” Rose says, “But how many did we leave defenceless?”

Dave says nothing. There’s nothing left to say. Both of them have seen countless times the impacts of the witch hunts, of the villages left torn apart, their populations diminished in the ceaseless killing carried out in hopes that a few of their attacks will hit the intended target. He just leans further in to steady himself against the horse’s movement, and allows Rose a moment for whatever she’s thinking.

“How much further?” He asks eventually, though, desperate to break the silence.

“Just a few more hours off from here,” Rose replies, “Though I recommend we wait a while in the forest. I think it better we arrive just before nightfall. I’d rather we were not tracked there in broad daylight. Best not to endanger one of the last true safe spaces in this entire region.”

“Just how safe is this place, then?” Dave asks. Rose glances over her shoulder then, and almost smiles.

“The safest place I’ve ever had the good fortune to be,” she replies, “I’d have brought you to visit here a long time ago if there’d been good excuse to.”

“And the people there?” Dave asks.

“The best you’ll ever meet,” Rose says, and says no more, enough for Dave to know she either doesn’t have details, or doesn’t wish to share them while they’re so out in the open. He’s willing to bet on it being the last one. He simply nods to himself and stores the information away as yet another of Rose’s secrets he’ll probably never quite get to the bottom of. How Rose has come to be quite so connected to all these people he’d never even known the existence of, he has no idea.

*****

True to Rose’s word, once she realises they’re not far off from the house, she stops them in a deep part of the forest, once again setting the horse out to graze on the grass while she settles herself on the ground and begins, to Dave’s bafflement, to knit. He sits down beside her, on the raised root of a nearby tree, and when she passes up the skein of black wool he takes it, and holds onto it as she slowly unravels it inch by inch and knits it into her pattern.

“There’s bread in one of the bags,” Rose says after almost an hour of silence has passed, the gentle clicking of her knitting needles against each other echoing through the forest, “You may as well eat while we wait. I don’t expect to be asking our hosts for food when we arrive into the night.”

Dave tugs the nearest bag of food supplies towards him with one hand, and searches through until he finds a load. “For you?” He asks, tearing off a half and offering it towards her. She gratefully takes it, but takes only a few bites before returning to her knitting, silent and pensive.

“What are you making?” Dave asks, another desperate bid at conversation.

“A scarf,” Rose replies. He should have known. All she ever knits are scarves. 

“For yourself?”

“For whoever might need it,” she replies with a small shrug.

“Ah,” Dave murmurs. So it’s another of the scarfs she knits for no purpose other than to keep her hands busy. Whatever she’s thinking about, he can’t quite read it in her face, but feels her nerves echo out through the almost frantic click of needles. This journey, he thinks, is about to become more than just an escape. Whatever Rose knows, it cannot be good.

*****

The rest of the afternoon passes in similar fashion, in mostly silence broken by the most meaningless of small talk. Dave finds, once he is no longer of use holding the wool for her, that his sword makes his way into his hands, and he digs the tip of the blade gently into the ground as they wait, twisting and turning and watching grass and mud come undone beneath it.

The forest darkens around them, shadows lengthening, and the warmth drops out of the air, replaced by a chill that makes Dave finally thankful for his cloak as he draws it further around him. Part of him thinks to light a fire, but changes his mind at the thought of the smoke it would create. And so he simply waits in long, bored silence, until finally, seemingly at nothing, Rose snaps her head up and gazes off into the distance.

“Come,” she says quietly, “It is time enough we got going.”

“To the safe house?” Dave checks, though he knows the answer. Where else is there to head?

Rose nods, with a sigh almost of relief. “Yes,” she murmurs, “To the safe house.”

*****

The forest gets less and less dense as they make their way through it on horseback, the thick trees and shrubbery giving away to newer, young trees, their branches doing less and less to keep out the last of the daylight as they chase it. Still, there’s a way to go, and Dave keeps himself entertained watching the subtle twist and turn of trees and tiny paths carved out by animals on nightly walks as they pass on by. Travelling without Karkat, he realises, feels wrong. He has not allowed himself to think about it all day, has ignored the gap in their group that gapes like a terrible wound, but with nothing but silent travel through the darkening forest, there is little else to think of, and he finds himself sinking deeper into some feel of hopelessness as he dwells in it.

Finally, though, he senses the uplift of Rose’s shoulders, the change in her posture. She’s hopeful. They’re close. He starts paying more attention, watching out for any landmarks that could possibly ever lead him back here, but finds nothing aside from a few vaguely interesting rocks and a strangely twisted tree. Aside from that, everything looks almost exactly the same, disorienting and symmetrical in every direction. It’s no wonder, he realises, that this safe house has remained so safely hidden for so long.

The only people who could easily make their way out here are bounty hunters, he thinks grimly, and wishes he hadn’t thought it.

Twilight is nearing its end when finally they break through the trees into a darkened meadow. And there, in the centre, is the house they’ve come so far for. And it’s certainly not what Dave had been expecting. Large and sprawling, with what must be tens of rooms and at least three floors, the house is old, a mansion of sorts, and half devoured by the ivy that tangles itself around its walls. It's crumbling in places, certainly, and looks fairly uninhabited, but it’s larger than expected too, enough space for dozens of people, when he’d expected nothing but a modest cottage like their own back home. Whoever lives here must be fairly powerful, to own a place such as this. 

“We’re here,” Rose breathes out quietly, and draws the horse to a halt at the very edge of the meadow. There’s a look of awe on her face that makes no sense considering she’s been here some couple of times before.

“I didn’t expect it to be so hidden away,” Dave says, and Rose laughs softly.

“It is a safe house, after all,” she says, and then slides down from the saddle, getting hold of the horse’s reins as she does so. Dave follows after her, finding his feet met by soft, long grass and a gentle bed of clover as he lands unsteadily.

“Approach carefully,” Rose murmurs, “We do not wish to alarm our new hosts. I should have sent word ahead”

“You’re sure they’ll let us stay?” Dave asks.

Rose glances back over her shoulder with a weary grin, tired but hopeful nonetheless. “I’m sure,” she says, and then sets off towards the house Maplehoof trotting gently by her side. Dave trusts her, as ever, and follows.

There’s a carving in the darkened wood of the door when they reach it, the shape of some strange insect, it’s wings outstretched. Dave stares for a second at its strange face and wide eyes, before Rose reaches to knock a hand gently against the door in a careful rhythm. There’s a clatter from within, the sound of footsteps, and the faintest hint of a distant voice calling out, followed by a long, silent wait.

“They’re not answering,” Dave says.

“They will,” Rose murmurs quietly, “Just a few moments now.” The words have barely left her mouth when there’s a great scraping from within, the sound of more than one bolt being drawn back from across the heavy door, and then slowly it’s pulled open.

There’s a girl there. Lingering back, half a foot inside the door, she’s part way concealed by the shadows of the long, stretching hallway behind her. It’s bright enough, though, for Dave to see that she’s young, younger than him by two years or so at his best guess, and dressed in shabby clothing. Her shirt’s long, flared at the sleeves, and embroidered with a few lines of red stitching into it’s darkened cloth, a best attempt at keeping old clothing looking nice, paired with a long skirt almost entirely torn apart where the bottom of it makes the floor. Behind her, her hair’s a mess of black curls, and tied loosely by some headpiece of sorts that Dave can’t quite see. When she takes a small step forwards, further into the light, there’s a pallor to her face, and the usual uneasy energy of someone with a life touched by trauma. Dave recognises it well, the nervousness in her stance, and wild flickering of her eyes.

Her nose wrinkles slightly as she assesses the two of them standing there. “Who are you?” She asks. Her voice is careful and quiet, hollow even.

“Sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met before,” Rose says, “I’m here to see -”

“Rose!” Another voice calls out from the shadows then, and another woman reveals herself from the shadows. Taller than all three others of them, and dressed in just slightly nicer clothes than those of the first girl’s, her eyes ringed in dark eyeliner, she’s imposing as she steps forwards towards them, moving aside the younger girl with nothing more than a wave of one lithe hand.

“Kanaya!” Rose breathes out, and stumbles a step forward before Dave can even think to warn her not to. When the stranger’s arms reach out, Rose steps into them, and Dave watches curiously as the two embrace like old friends.

“It’s been too long since I’ve last seen you,” Kanaya says after a moment, stepping back from Rose, “I worried something bad had happened.” Finally, then, she turns her eyes on Dave, and he sees the unnatural brightness of the green irises there as they fix on him. “Ah, something bad did happen,” Kanaya murmurs, “Didn’t it?”

“Yes,” Rose says with a shaking intake of breath, and Kanaya ducks her head slowly with a slow blink of remorse.

“Inside, then,” she says, “We’ll talk more once there’s warm tea inside of the both of you.”

“Thank you,” Rose murmurs, “I hope you don’t mind our intrusion.”

Kanaya smiles then, just a little. “Never, dear Rose,” she says, before turning to the younger girl by her side, “Aradia, take Rose’s horses out to the stables in the back.”

“Our stalls are all full,” Aradia supplies helpfully.

“Then two of our horses will have to share,” Kanaya says, “Come back in once you’re done, and make sure the doors are locked behind you; I fear we’re in for a storm tonight.”

Aradia nods her head with excessive energy, curls of hair falling directly into her face as she does so, and then turns to disappear outwards into the meadow at a sprint, barefoot, Dave notices as she goes.

“In, in,” Kanaya murmurs once she’s gone, a hand on Rose’s back and gently guiding them inside, “You’ve had a hard journey if I’m not mistaken, you need rest for now.”

Dave follows them inside carefully, into a darkened hallway, its walls lined with old portraits half destroyed by time, and behind them the heavy door falls shut with a shuddering slam that tears apart the silence. Paused in the hallway, Rose lets out a shuddering sigh, shoulders slumping ever so slightly. Kanaya’s hand lands gently on her arm.

“Come,” Kanaya says quietly, “Into the kitchen. You two are safe now.” And Dave allows himself to be led forward into unfamiliar rooms of warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an update a day?? nah i wont be able to keep that up for much longer but i had a few days off of classes so im basically just writing, the next chapters also almost done but probably (?) won't be up until tomorrow.  
> anyway umm...vampire lady here she comes, i'm love miss kanaya so much. i had a big planning session today and i think this fic is gonna be a lot longer than i expected it to, but im very excited about it. anyway hope you enjoyed, another shorter chapter but the next ones a longer one so it'll make up for that!! :) - C


	7. Chapter 7

Kanaya’s kitchen is brighter than what Dave has seen of the house so far. Larger windows let in the last of the day’s dying light, and cheery lanterns burn where they hang from the ceilings above, casting a warm glow onto everything in the room. Every shelf and cupboard bursts with mismatched crockery and random objects, a pile of random books left on one side and a skull, for some reason, left on another, and Dave can’t help but smile at it, at the clear intent of making the old place into as much as a home as is possible. There’s a rickety old wooden table in the centre, four chairs pushed in around it, and Kanaya ushers them into seats as they enter.

“Tea, both of you?” She asks, already whirling around the kitchen as if this is nothing more than a normal occurrence for her, “It’s a new blend of my own, with a little lemon and honey to soothe out the cold.”

“That would be great,” Rose murmurs. The end of their journey now upon them, Dave watches as his sister’s brave face slips, eyes sliding half shut in exhaustion as she sits there, barely registering when a chipped tea cup is set down in front of her.

“Thank you,” Dave says for her, taking his own cup as it’s passed to him.

In the warm kitchen light, he gets a proper look at Kanaya finally. His first impression is that she is breathtakingly beautiful, inhumanly so. Looking at her for more than a few brief moments at a time makes Dave feel almost dizzy. Dressed in sleak, well-cared for clothes, she’s clearly making the best of what she’s got to present herself as best as possible. Her hair is short, neat cut, a raven black against skin paler than Dave’s ever seen, so pale it almost glows in the flickering lantern light. And when she sees him looking and smiles unsurely but not unkindly, he sees the faintest hint of sharp teeth pressing out against her bottom lip. Recognition clicks in his brain. _Vampire._ He’d heard rumours of them in the area before, and Rose had mentioned briefly having known one, but he’d never thought he would be coming across one today of all days.

“So, the hunts have reached your home, then?” Kanaya asks gently.

“You know about that?” Dave asks, when Rose appears completely unshocked by it. News must travel fast through their network.

“Of course,” Kanaya says, “We have seen many of them come through this area in the last few months alone. The region is filling with people who do not want us here. It won’t be long until everything breaks apart.”

“You think?” Rose asks, “I had hoped they would just move on.”

“Aren’t you a Seer?” Kanaya jokes, “Use your powers, o powerful witch. It’s coming, like we always knew it would one day.” Her tone is light and joking, a surprise to Dave who’d not expected it from looking at her, but she remains serious nonetheless. Rose, surprising Dave entirely, actually laughs a little.

“Yeah, should have seen it coming,” she breathes out slowly, “Got a plan?”

“Not yet,” Kanaya replies, “I’m working on it.” She sounds certain. It quiets the anxious part of Dave’s brain for a moment.

“And the others?” Rose asks, and is met by a strange look from Kanaya. “Last time I was here, five seasons or so back, these halls ran with life. Where is everybody now?”

Kanaya lets out a low sigh. “Aradia and I are all that is left here currently,” she says, with a heavy swallow, and then slowly takes a seat down at the table. With a tired sigh, she reaches across, and takes a hold of one of Rose’s hands where they rest on the table. “Truth be told, Rose, I’m worried,” she murmurs, “But I had to let the others go. I have not seen more hunters and slayers crawling out of the forests than I have these past months. No matter who you talk to, on whatever side, it is agreed. War is coming. It leaks into the bones of everyday life and with it has brought a darkness unimaginable. Those who once stayed here with us have made decisions to return to families or to homelands in preparation for the inevitable. But our network remains vast, and when protection and support is needed I trust it will come. And that is not to say we don’t get the occasional visitor stopping by on occasion. But for now, that is all I know, and all I can say. But tell me about your journey now.”

“It wasn’t as long as I’d expected,” Rose starts, “Fairly easy too, we weren’t stopped by anybody, but we were jumped by bounty hunters.”

“Because Rose murdered for a carriage,” Dave points out, still just the slightest bit bitter about that. Kanaya’s eyes widen very slightly, but she says nothing else.

“Yes, well, the bounty hunters attacked us, and took Karkat, we’ve yet to find where he is.”

“Karkat?” Kanaya asks.

“Ah, yes, of course,” Rose nods, “A demon Dave rescued a few days before we left. He was the only reason we got out of town safely, he gave us the warning to leave. I didn’t trust him at first, but I’ll admit his presence was useful, and I worry for him.”

Dave’s startled by that. He hadn’t expected her to care much about Karkat’s loss from their group. Since he disappeared last night, Rose has said barely a word about Karkat. But then, he supposes, neither has he.

“Karkat won’t let them hold him for long,” he says, trying to assure them as much as he’s trying to assure himself, “But… I’d like to know if he’s okay.”

Kanaya turns towards him, and the look he finds there is deeply sympathetic. “We’ll get your friend back, Dave,” she says, and then with a glance towards Rose and a slight smirk adds, “We always do.”

“Yeah, Kanaya’s run several successful rescue missions in her life,” Rose says with a nod.

“I don’t even know where he might be,” Dave says.

“We’ll find him,” Kanaya shrugs, “I know people. We’ll get it sorted.” She’s about to say something more when there’s a flurry of movement, and Aradia appears in the kitchen, sliding across the tiled floor in her socks.

“The horse is away,” Aradia says with a small nod.

“Ah, Aradia,” Kanaya says with a smile, “here, meet our guests. This is my friend Rose, and her brother Dave, I think you’ll like the both of them.”

Aradia turns to survey the both of them once again, head leaned to one side ever so slightly, blinking slowly for a moment. Still, though, she’s silent.

“Aradia’s pretty new around here,” Kanaya explains, and then with a smile adds, “she’s our resident necromancer.”

A small, proud smile crosses Aradia’s face then. “I’ve been practicing since I was young,” she says, “It’s not so hard when you know how.”

“Woah,” Dave says. He’s heard tales of necromancers, a whole cult of them apparently live further North in the mountains, but they’re just another group of people he’s been yet to meet, until today apparently. “So you’re like...powerful.”

Aradia shrugs. “Apparently. For me it’s just normal.”

“That’s certainly impressive,” Rose says, “You must have faced some serious persecution in your time.”

“You get used to it,” Aradia says, “You get used to a lot of things.” She turns then to Kanay and asks, “Did you fix my necklace?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Kanaya smiles, “I forgot to give it back to you. Here.” She reaches behind her onto the side and pulls out a necklace of braided thong and passes it over. Dave peers a little closer to watch as Aradia carefully does the clasp up behind her neck. There are three skulls hanging from the necklace, tiny, fragile bird’s skulls, and Aradia gently adjusts them against her chest before turning back to Kanaya.

“Can I leave now?” She asks, and gets a nod in reply.

“Of course,” Kanaya nods, “It’s about time our guests got some rest too, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Aradia turns and nods politely to both Dave and Rose before she turns and leaves the room again.

“Poor thing,” Kanaya sighs gently, “I was lucky to manage to smuggle her here from her hometown in one piece. Her...well it’s not for me to tell I suppose but she’s lost a lot of people. You’ll notice when she warms up to you that she’s a little...chaotic. That’s always been her way, but I think she uses it to deal with things.”

“She seems nice,” Rose says with a nod, “At least you’re not alone here.”

“Yes, it was...unpleasant being alone here for the weeks before Aradia arrived,” Kanaya agrees, “But anyway, you two have had a long journey, I think it best you get some rest.”

“That would be good,” Rose says with a grateful nod. She reaches again across the table to gently press her hand to Kanaya’s arm. “I will talk to you properly in the morning, but for now we should sleep.”

Kanaya smiles. “There will be more than enough time to discuss everything,” she says, and then gets up to her feet. “Let me show you to your rooms.”

The house is long and winding, and Dave gives up trying to remember the patterns of the darkened hallways as Kanaya leads them up a wide staircase to the second floor. Rose is directed to a room she has apparently stayed in before, Dave finds himself wondering when exactly, and then Kanaya opens up a door for him, and steps inside to check the room.

“I hope this will do for you,” she calls out of the room, and Dave watches as she reaches up to light a lantern hanging from the ceiling. “If you need anything, Dave, just call. My room’s the one opposite.”

“Thanks Kanaya,” he calls as she heads off down the corridor, and then he steps into the room, letting the door swing shut behind him with a soft click.

The room is vast. A wide four-poster bed, dusty red velvet curtains hung around it, sits against the back wall, a pair of antlers mounted above the headboard. There’s a wardrobe too, and a set of drawers, as well as a wooden desk beneath the wide bay window, most of which is covered with creeping vines of ivy that stretch across the glass like the arms of some eerie creature. Dave steps across the room to tug the heavy curtains across the window to block out the strange shadows the ivy is casting across the carpet, and then makes his way towards the bed. It’s piled high with plush, feather-filled pillows and draped with blankets, a luxury after the night spent on the hard seats of the carriage, and far more luxurious than anything he had been used to at home.

Slowly, he pulls off his travelling cloak, looking a little despairingly at the torn and stained patches on it, and then gently drapes it across the chair at the desk, before shrugging off the rest of his clothing down to his underwear. With his clothes neatly away, he crosses the room to stretch up on his toes and extinguish the lantern, before stumbling his way back to the bed in the dark and allowing himself to fall backwards into it. The mattress dips under his weight, softer than anything Dave’s felt in a long time, and he’s barely able to pull a blanket properly over himself before the feeling of the pillow, soft and gentle under his cheek, and the warmth of everything quickly eases him into the deep sleep he’s been craving for a while.

*****

When Dave wakes in the morning, it must be nearing midday. The curtains across the window are heavy and thick enough to block out almost all light, and for the first time in a while he’s slept right through dawn. The house is quiet as he lays there for a long time listening to it, blinking the bleariness of sleep from his eyes and appreciating the warmth of the bed around him. Somewhere downstairs a door closes, and he thinks he hears the faintest sound of footsteps from somewhere, but aside from that there’s nothing.

Eventually, though, he sits up slowly and forces himself up out of the bed. There’s a bag by the door, Rose must have put it there, meaning she’s awake, or has been at some point this morning, and he digs through it for new clothes for the day. Picking out one of his more comfortable shirts and a new, not blood-stained pair of trousers, he changes clothes slowly, and does his best to scrape the knots out of his hair with his fingers. And then, with nothing else to do, he steps out of the room, and goes to investigate.

The house looks different in daylight. Though the plants across the windows do their best to block it out, the light creeps its way in, glinting off of dust motes that dance in the air and plume up off of the faded red carpet as Dave makes his way towards the stairs. There’s a canvas hung slightly wonkily on one wall, depicting a hare staring at a full moon, and Dave glances at it for a moment before he heads down the stairs, down to where more rooms he barely noticed the night before extend in every direction. Following the best of his memory, he heads for where he thinks the kitchen is. He stops halfway there, though, as the first real sound of the morning reaches his ears. Singing. He pauses in the hallway to listen to it.

_“The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree,_   
_Sing all a green willow_   
_With his hand on his bosom and his head upon his knee,_   
_Oh willow willow willow...”_

Dave smiles softly to himself. It’s an old song, not one he’s heard in a while, but vaguely he remembers hearing it as a child, sung by someone once while he was at that awful school. He follows the sound into the kitchen, and finds Kanaya hunched over a gentle fire in the stove, stirring at something, and Rose sat at the table there, her head resting on her hand watching Kanaya fondly through gently half-lidded eyes. Something about the moment stops him in his tracks, and he watches for a moment as Kanaya continues to sing quietly.

_“He sighed in his singing and made a great moan,_   
_I am dead to all pleasure, my true love she is gone…”_

Kanaya pauses then, and moves her head ever so slightly upwards from her cooking. “Good morning, Dave,” she says without ever looking over at him, and he jumps slightly. Right, yes, of course. Vampire. Strong senses.

“Hey,” he says, stepping into the room with a rough clearing of his throat. Rose is sitting upright now at the table, eyes facing her hands down on the table, and he casts a curious look in her direction as he sits down. “Nice song, Kan,” he adds, and sees the woman smile slightly at the nickname, “How does that one end again?”

“Oh, well...to skip to the last few lines,” Kanaya says, “You would have:

_“Take this for my farewell and latest adieu,_   
_Write this on my tomb, that in love I was true.”_

“Ah,” Dave nods, remembering then the familiar feeling of dread creeping in at the song. He remembers, vaguely, a woman at the nursery window, with tears in her eyes and a child in her arms, the song soft and trembling in her throat. “Not a happy song then,” he says.

“No, not at all,” Kanaya agrees, and turns back away to the stove. He turns then to look over at Rose, and finds her staring straight back at him, eyes tracking him carefully like she’s reading something in his face, and he glances away. “We won’t see Aradia ‘til at least midday,” Kanaya says as she begins to serve something into bowls, “She’s a night owl, that girl, more so than me, and I’m a vampire.”

“Is the sunlight thing true?” Dave asks, and hears Rose scoff slightly.

“Only slightly,” Kanaya replies as she drifts towards the table and lays down two bowls of porridge before returning to the stove for her own, “I’m just slightly more sensitive to it than a human, more likely to get burned. It won’t kill me.”

“Ah,” Dave says, and picks up a spoon as she takes a seat beside Rose,

“Kanaya and I are going to the market not far from here this morning,” Rose says after a moment of all three of them sitting and eating in silence, “Will you want to come?”

Dave shakes his head. “That’s enough travelling for me for a few days at least,” he says with a soft laugh, “I’ll stay behind.”

“Aradia will too, so you’ll have company,” Kanaya says, “Though I don’t know how much of her you’ll see.”

“That’s fine,” Dave says, adding, “Thanks for the breakfast, Kanaya.”

“You’re welcome, David,” she smiles, “Give me that old cloak of yours later when we get back and I’ll see if I can fix it up for you a little.”

“Kanaya’s a tailor,” Rose chimes in.

“Huh. Is there anything you don’t do?” Dave asks.

Kanaya laughs, a bright sound that echoes around and fills up the kitchen. “No,” she says after a moment with a shake of her head, “I don’t think there is.”

*****

Later, after Kanaya and Rose have cantered away on a pair of horses in the direction of the nearest village, Dave finds himself sitting alone in the living room. Like all the rooms in this house seem to be it’s larger than any room he’s been in before, and decorated comfortably. An old sofa and several plush armchairs fill the space, as well as a bookshelf against one wall, and the room opens up into an enormous fireplace at one end. It must cost a fortune to keep the thing lit in winter.

The house is now even more silent than it had been before, and as he sits there Kanaya’s song echoes in his head. It’s eerie, and he shakes it out of his head as quickly as possible, searching instead for something to do to distract himself. And that’s how he finds himself wandering aimlessly through the long halls and empty rooms of the house, investigating from room to room. If they’re going to be staying there for a while, then he may as well get to know the place after all.

Upstairs, he chooses not to go into Kanaya’s room, but investigates the one he knows has been given to Rose, finding it looking almost exactly the same as his own. And then, at the end of the hallway, he finds another small staircase and heads on upwards. There are two doors up there. One, when he pushes it open, reveals only yet another empty bedroom. The other he finds locked, and pauses for a moment, worrying this is Aradia’s room and she’s somewhere within. But then, on the door, he spots a wooden plaque, two initials carved into it: PM. Huh. He brushes his fingers gently over it. There’s no other clue to the locked room, though, and so he turns and heads back downwards.

“Hello,” a voice says as he comes down the stairs, and he finds Aradia in the process of coming out of her own room. So, the room upstairs isn’t hers then. Interesting.

“Hi,” he says, “Uh, the others went out to a market.”

“Yes, Kanaya said she would,” Aradia nods, “You stayed?”

“Yeah, uh, didn’t feel like it,” he tells her, and she nods again.

“So, what were you doing up there?” She asks, gesturing upwards. Dave guesses she must have heard him walking around up there, and doesn’t question it.

“Oh, just looking around,” he says.

“Did you find the library?” She asks.

“Uh, no I didn’t,” he replies, and she brightens slightly, red-painted lips turning up at the corners.

“Here, I’ll show you,” she says, and then sets off towards the stairs at a fast pace. Dave hurries to keep up as she disappears down the stairs and back in the direction of the living room. By the living room, she pauses for a moment, and then leads him to a door he had failed to notice just a little further down the hallway. It’s half concealed behind a bunch of cloaks hanging on a rack on the wall next to it, and Aradia holds them aside with one hand as she opens the door and steps inside, beckoning Dave to follow her.

“This house just keeps on going, huh?” Dave asks as the door shuts behind them and he looks around. The library is even bigger than he could have possibly expected, and the lightest room so far, floor to ceiling windows on one side letting in bright light. There’s a conservatory behind it that must stick out towards one side of the house but he hasn’t seen before, with a few seats and a table out in it.

“Yeah, it’s a big place,” Aradia agrees, dropping down into an armchair in one corner and folding herself up into it, knees tucked up to her chest, “This is my favourite part of the house though.”

“Oh yeah?” He asks, stepping over towards one of the shelf-lined walls to peer at the books there.

“Yes, it’s peaceful,” she replies, “And these books have enough knowledge to last one person a lifetime.” Dave nods in agreement, reading the names down the spines of some of the books, and finding an odd assortment of fiction and non-fiction in no particular order at all.

“You like it here then?” He asks, searching for some sort of way to start conversation between them.

“Oh yes,” Aradia agrees, “I miss home but...this is a lot better than it could have been.”

“Where was your home?” Dave asks, moving to take a seat in one of the other empty chairs across the room, “Before you came here?” He doesn’t know if it’s too private of a question to ask, but Aradia hardly seems to bat an eyelid at it.

“My mother and I lived much further South of here,” she replies, “Days of travel away, the furthest edge of the region. Mother was an immigrant from Asia, she never told me who my father was, said he wasn’t important. I assume he is dead. We lived in a little house far from a lot of other places, in this small village that was almost completely falling apart. We were one of the last families left. Mother ended up in a conflict with some witch hunters a few months ago on their last hunt through the area, and she died. I spent a long time walking and travelling and running away. Then some people in the network found me, and they gave me directions to Kanaya. She took me in and I’m grateful for it.”

Aradia has a strange way of speaking. Her voice is soft and gentle, but hauntingly empty too, and her way of phrasing everything so simply and bluntly somehow softens the blow of the awful story she’s recounting. Outwardly, she seems almost unbothered by the tale. Dave wonders what’s going on inside her head.

“That’s awful,” he tells her, and she shrugs.

“Yes,” Aradia says, “But in my family, death has never been the end. It is just merely another part of life. I have dealt with it.”

“You’re just gonna stay with Kanaya then?” Dave asks, “Forever?”

“Perhaps,” Aradia says, “Who knows what the future holds?”

“Rose, probably, or some other Seer,” Dave suggests, and Aradia laughs softly, sounding vaguely cheerful for the first time since Dave met her yesterday.

“You’re right,” she says, “Weird people, Seers.”

“Very,” Dave agrees, “Try living with one.”

“I suppose I do now,” Aradia says, tipping her head backwards and staring up at the ceiling with the faintest of smiles. He smiles back at her, and then relaxes into the chair a little, letting the moment lapse into a quiet, comfortable silence.

“Is this what you do then?” He asks after a long while, “You just sit around in the library all day?”

Aradia moves her head then to look back at him, and stares for a moment, careful assessing him once again. “Hmm,” she hums, as if coming to some sort of decision, “No.” She pushes herself up out of the chair in one fluid motion, her skirt falling around her in one long ripple, “Let me show you.”

She holds out a hand to beckon he follows her, and Dave gets up from his own chair to follow her as she exits the library again. As they leave, she grabs a jacket, long and black, from the rack on the wall, and shoves a key into its pocket, before heading for the front door.

“Where are we going?” Dave asks, and Aradia just turns to look over her shoulder at him with a wide grin.

“You’ll see,” she says, and then, as the front door of the house slams shut behind them, she takes off running across the field. She’s not wearing shoes, again. Dave thanks the stars he put his own shoes on before going downstairs that morning, and follows after her.

Aradia’s fast, weaving through the meadow towards the trees with practiced ease, and soon Dave himself has to start running as well to keep up with her. She disappears into the trees long before he reaches the treeline, but the sound of her frantic footsteps on the forest floor and the vague blur of her movement amongst the shrubbery is easy enough to track. Soon, he’s almost at her side, and the two of them run together through the forest. It’s as tiring as travelling the day before had been, but the sense of reckless abandon that comes with it, and with Aradia in general, makes it far easier to enjoy. He just continues to run along beside her until she slows her pace down and approaches the thickest patch of shrubbery nearby.

She crouches for a moment by one of the bushes, searching in the dirt and shrubbery for something with her hands, and then nods to herself.

“Just through here,” Aradia says, lifting a tangle of brambles with one hand and ducking under it carefully. He pushes through after her, and then stumbles in shock.

Behind the heavy thicket of vines and brambles they’ve broken through, there’s an old building, crumbled into nothing but stone foundations and the occasionally old support beam still standing. The whole thing’s made of smooth grey stone, completely mossed over in places, with small plants and mushrooms living in every crack, and at the top of one half broken pillar he’s sure he spots a bird’s nest.

“Huh, wow,” he murmurs, and Aradia grins at him.

"This old house was here long before the one we live in now," Aradia explains, sweeping a hand vaguely in the direction of the ruin, "It's a nice place to come. The chaos of the world is exciting, the danger thrilling, but everyone needs a quiet place to get away from that sometimes.” She hurries off a little, climbing up over a pile of stones in the vague shape of a wall, and then seats herself up at the top of a largely untouched staircase at the front of the ruin.

Dave follows, pausing at one point when something crunches under his foot and then wincing when he looks down and finds an assortment of bones, now crushed into splintered fragments.

“Don’t worry about those!” Aradia calls, watching him even from at a distance it would seem, “Just leftovers from old experiments! Come on!”

Keeping up with her, he can tell, is going to be exhausting, but he hurries over anyway, and seats himself beside her on the top step. There’s a whole cow’s skull sat at the bottom of the steps, staring back up at him as he looks down at it.

“You use this place for rituals, then?” He asks, and she nods.

“Only small ones, practices,” she replies, “Never anything dangerous. I save my energy for bigger rituals for when they’re really needed.”

“What sort of occasion calls for necromancy?” Dave asks, and gets another shrug.

“I’m still waiting on the right opportunity,” she says, and he laughs softly.

She’s a strange spirit, he thinks. Enigmatic and otherworldly, but with something softer and much more pure underneath it all. Childhood hasn’t fully left her yet, no matter how much she hides it with careful speech and an equally careful manner.

“How old are you?” He asks her.

“Almost eighteen,” she replies, and he nods. Just a year and a bit younger than himself then. She doesn’t ask the question back. Perhaps she doesn’t care, or it doesn’t bother her to know the answer. Perhaps she just doesn’t think to ask. Either way, within a few moments she’s back up on her feet again and pacing. For someone who comes out here for apparent peace and quiet, she sure seems to have far too much pent up energy now she’s here.

“Your sister,” she says after a moment, “She’s interesting.”

“Uh, yeah,” he agrees.

“She treats you like she’s your mother,” Aradia adds, and Dave raises an eyebrow up at her. For all he knows, Aradia’s only been around both him and Rose together for a few brief minutes in the last twelve hours that they’ve been here. And yet she’s not wrong.

“Rose has been more of a mother in my life than anyone else,” he says with a shrug, “Family’s family, no matter the role.”

Aradia nods in agreement. “I’ve got a sister,” she says, ”Damara. She moved back to Asia before my mother died, I haven't heard from her since. I didn’t know how to message her to tell her about the attack, so I didn’t try.”

“You don’t miss her?” Dave asks, and Aradia shakes her head, hair flying.

“I never knew her very well,” she says, and then falls silent. There’s too much to unpack there, and so Dave doesn’t ask anything, just leans all the way back, until he’s laying on his back on the cold stone floor, closes his eyes, and enjoys the gentle sound of movement as Aradia continues to pace back and forth.

“Tell me about Karkat,” she says eventually. Her voice is closer than he’d expected it to be, and when he opens one eye he jumps to find her sitting back down next to him and peering down into his face.

“What?” he asks when his heart’s stopped racing.

“Kanaya told me about your demon friend, Karkat,” she says, “Tell me about him.”

“He’s just...a demon,” Dave says, “I don’t really know what to say.”

“Must be interesting if you’re friends with him,” Aradia says, “Come on.” Her eyes are bright, searching for something in Dave’s face, and he sighs slightly in the knowledge that she won’t rest until she’s got a story.

“He got kicked out of hell,” Dave says, “Won’t tell me exactly why, not yet, but he wouldn't conform to their rules or something. He’s...strange, not like most demons. Too friendly, and he makes me feel… I don’t know, I just know I can trust him. We understand each other somehow, and that sorta thing doesn’t come easily in this world.”

“It sure doesn’t,” Aradia agrees, sounding almost wistful as she looks off into the distance for a moment, so dramatically Dave could almost imagine it were planned until she suddenly seems to snap back to attention and turns to focus on him again. “I can’t wait to meet him,” she says eventually, “When we get him back.”

Dave huffs out a sad breath of laughter. “I hope we get him back,” he says.

“Oh, we will,” Aradia nods, “Nothing keeps a demon from a human once they’ve bonded with it. Either we find him, or he finds us. Either way, I don’t expect it to be long until your friend joins our little party.”

“Oh yeah?” Dave asks, baffled by her absolute confidence, “And then what?”

She shrugs, again., her signature move apparently. “We fight all the hunters off and live happily ever after, obviously,” she says, entirely sincere for a moment until she lets out a light peel of laughter that gets Dave laughing too. “Or maybe we just stay in a safe house our whole lives and don’t let the outside world in,” she murmurs when the laughing dies out, while the remainder of it is still echoing in the air, “Either way, as long as we're alive and not alone, who cares?”

“You’re alright with that?” Dave asks, “With...never been truly free?”

“I’m okay with a lot of things,” Aradia replies, “You have to learn to be.”

The two of them fall silent then for a long time. Aradia moves to lay down on the floor too, her head next to his. A blackbird sings for a moment in a tree above, and somewhere a cricket chirps once, twice, three times before disappearing away. Aradia raises a hand into the air carefully at one point and tracks the flittering movement of a large butterfly with her fingers until it flies out of reach. It's gentle, and as peaceful as she'd claimed it to be, and Dave feels a little more of the weight of worry slip off of his shoulders. He doesn’t realise he’s started humming to himself until Aradia looks over at him curiously, one eyebrow raised.

“Kanaya always sings that song,” she says.

“Yeah, she was singing it this morning,” Dave says, “Got it stuck in my head.”

Aradia’s face darkens slightly. “I never did like it much,” she says, “Too miserable. Where did all the happy love songs go? People used to sign happy love songs. I’d like it if she sang one of those.”

“You should ask her to,” Dave says, and Aradia shakes her head ferociously against the floor, as if she’s never heard a worse idea.

“Kanaya sings what she’s feeling,” she says, “Asking Kanaya to sing a song is like asking the wind to change direction. Impossible, unless, of course, you happen to have magickal wind powers, which none of us have.”

“So why’s Kanaya signing such sad love songs?” Dave asks.

Aradia heaves a gentle sigh. “Who ever knows why Kanaya does anything?” She replies, “I think she’s worried. For sure she knows something is coming, I’ve seen her preparing these last few weeks. Many times in my life I’ve seen these hunts, these fights, but never like this. People say it’s war. Do you think it will be war, Dave?”

At the back of his mind, Dave knows the pressing answer, the one he's been hiding. _‘Yes,’_ he wants to scream, _‘yes and I know how it happens, yes and please take this knowledge away from me before it consumes me whole.’_ Even Rose knows only half of the information he's been carrying for years, and the urge to burden it onto someone else is immeasurable.

“I don’t know,” he says instead, “Maybe.”

Aradia gives a solemn nod. “Then by the stars in the sky may there be mercy on us this time,” she murmurs quietly as a blackbird lands on the top of one nearby pillar, and it’s song begins to echo through the space again.

*****

They stay a little longer in the ruins, Dave finding that Aradia’s right; the quiet of the place really does soothe the screaming ache in the very back of his mind, calming everything if only for the briefest of moments. And then, as soon as the peace arrived, it’s broken by Aradia suddenly scrambling up to her feet and standing stock still in the centre of the ruin, looking around herself with eyes stretched wide. For a moment, Dave’s clueless as to what’s going on, but stays silent as she surveys the area, his breath caught in his throat at the way her hands have curled into tight scared fists by her side.

“We’re not alone out here,” she whispers after a moment, “We need to get back to the house.” Dave hears nothing in the silence afterwards, nothing to indicate the presence of anyone else at least, but the wide stretch of her eyes and the nervousness of her stance is enough for him to trust her.

He pushes himself up off of the floor and grasps, desperately, at his belt, heart sinking when he finds himself without his sword. Aradia scrambles off towards the edge of the ruin, and then, in a fast movement, hauls herself upwards into the lowest branch of a nearby tree. Dave stands for a moment and watches as she heads upwards into the trees, soon disappearing amongst the leaves, and for a few long minutes then he’s left alone, feeling uncomfortably defenceless and out in the open there. Then Aradia falls back down to the ground, jumping from a height just slightly too high for Dave’s liking. But she manages the fall easily, and then dashes towards him.

“There’s a group of bounty hunters heading through the woods, half a mile or so off,” she says, “Not heading this way but still risky. We should get back.”

“Right,” Dave nods, turning to follow Aradia as she instantly heads off in the direction they came, heading for the edge of the ruin. “How many of them?" He asks as they leave the ruin and set back out into the trees.

“A pack,” Aradia replies, “Small but substantial. And where there are some there are always more. They never usually come this close, but recently they…” She trails off with a shake of her head, and then mutters, “I don’t like it.” She picks up her pace a little after that, and he can do nothing but hurry after her.

When they reach the edge of the meadow again, Aradia pauses them in the last of threes, and checks around.

“Don’t want anyone following us in,” she tells him, and then, satisfied with her findings, sets off quickly towards the house, a hand on Dave’s wrist, dragging him along with her. Together, they stumble and trip across the field, grasping at each other’s sleeves and hands to drag and pull whoever falls behind, that old sting of adrenaline back in Dave's blood again, and then they’re finally at that door, with it’s strange insect carving, and Aradia fumbles with the lock for a few moments before the door swings open.

They hurry inside, pushing and shoving at the heavy door until it slams shut, and Aradia works the familiar deadbolt locks across it, her breath heaving. With it locked and them both inside safely, she pauses, and leans her head backwards against the door, breathing heavily for a moment and then suddenly letting out a bright laugh. Dave leans back against the door beside her, and turns his head to look over at her curiously. There’s no reason for her laughter, and she offers no explanation, but when her laughter continues on for a while he finds it almost infectious, and soon he too is laughing in gentle huffs, finding it cathartic as his lungs fill with oxygen again after the long run. The sound is loud and welcoming in the otherwise stillness and silence of the house, and he grasps gently at her shoulder for a moment as he wheezes out a life, seeing her eyes shine very slightly when she looks over at him.

Their laughter fades out at the same time, and in the silence afterwards, he glances back over at her again, and finds her eyes still shining but searching him too, a deep sense of understanding there, like she can read exactly what he's thinking from his face alone. Maybe she can. He grins back at her, the heavy realisation hitting him that here, in this girl with a past almost as dark as his own, and surely carrying secrets that bear down similar weights onto her own shoulders, he has found some sort of kindred spirit. And then, slowly, he turns his gaze down to the darkened hallway ahead of them. It’s not home, not really. But with Aradia huffing out one last chuckle beside him, her shoulders shaking slightly with it and her chest heaving with a steady sigh of relief, he thinks maybe, for a while, it could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aradia and dave friendship is always my favourite to write, i just think they'd be bros  
> also! i have this headcanon that kanaya sings, and i wanted to finally write it into something, so here it is. i love old traditional english folk songs, so i'm going to be writing some into this story for that good old english fantasy feel and umm...we love a spooky foreshadowing song, and i think i'm going to try and track the sort of feel of the piece through the songs kanaya sings. if that makes sense??? idk.  
> i have this fic planned to be around 20 chapters long atm, so we're sorta getting to like a third of the way through here, super excited to get some more of the deeper stuff written into this soon! - C <3


	8. Chapter 8

An hour later, they’re sitting in the old conservatory behind the library, enjoying the day’s sunlight in the warmth of the room’s glass walls, when there comes the distant sound of voices. Aradia, draped dramatically in a red velvet armchair, her legs thrown sideways over one of the chair’s arms and her head hanging backwards over the other, raises herself upwards slightly, and peers sideways through the glass. There’s a book in Dave’s hand, a huge tome of demonology, and he lets it fall gently into his lap as he follows Aradia’s gaze. A moment later, though, a familiar set of figures move distantly, heading around to the front of the house, and he breathes out a sigh of relief.

"Kanaya and Rose are back," he says, stating the obvious he's sure Aradia already knows, and the two lift themselves up from their chairs. As they do, Aradia's own book falls heavily down onto the chair, plumes of dust spiralling upwards from the impact, and Dave gets a look at the cover of it as he leaves: Grimm's Fairy Tales.

By the time they get out into the hallway, Rose and Kanaya are hurrying inside, and Dave pauses in his step, instantly aware as he watches them that something is wrong. The two of them all but scramble in through the door, quick to replace the bolts Aradia had previously pulled across it, and there's a crackling tension in the air between, the usual fretting apprehension of fear. Rose’s face sags a little in relief when she spots the two of them there, and without a word they're being drawn into the kitchen, a place that Dave, already, realises is the safe space of the home, a place for meeting and discussion, and well chosen in its purpose; the warmth and brightness of the room chases out a little of the tension more than any other room would.

“What’s going on?” Aradia asks once they're all gathered in the kitchen, as perceptive to the mood as Dave, and they watch as Kanaya paces the room twice before turning to face them.

“This witch hunt,” she says with a deep sigh, “It’s not just the rallying of a few groups of radicals like we’d thought it to be. There’s a camp, out beyond the village, and soldiers everywhere you look. It would seem this is an organised hunt, and they intend to make it a war.” Her words sent ice into Dave's blood and make his heart clench in on itself. 'War'. The word's been thrown around too much recently, its bleak inevitability imposing in on their lives.

“So, then they must know for certain that we’re here,” Aradia says, “How can they know that? Half the people in this area don’t even believe in witchcraft.”

“Inside information,” Kanaya says sadly, “Someone must be feeding it to them. A lot of our people have suffered terribly these last years, and would do anything now to keep money in their purses and food on their tables.”

“How can they have gotten a hunt so organised though?” Aradia asks.

This Dave knows the answer to. He swallows thickly, pressing through years of fear and self-instilled silence, as he admits what he's known for a while now. “The Black King,” he says, “King of our region. He keeps to himself mostly but...his hatred for witchcraft is no secret, and his army is fierce.”

Rose nods. “Many of the soldiers we saw today bore his insignia. It would seem our 'noble' king has finally made good word on his promise to rid the land of all he deems unnatural.” Her voice is sarcastic, dripping with scorn, and Dave lurches back a little from the heavy darkness that seeps out of her and into the room. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Aradia watching them with a faint furrow of confusion between her eyebrows, but finds he has no words to explain to her the things he has seen and the things he has known. A glance at Kanaya tells him Rose has long ago told her everything she needs to know, and he shudders slightly in the knowledge that the past he has long since kept concealed, has hidden away in the back of his mind even from himself, is starting to leak out into the present. A roaring wave of panic crashes over his mind into a dark crescendo of spiralling thoughts, and he braces himself against the wooden kitchen counter behind him. _Don’t remember_ , he begs himself, _not today, just not today._

A hand lands heavily on his shoulder, snapping him from his spiral. “Dave?” Rose asks gently, “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Dave says roughly, “Fine. Just -”

“I know,” Rose says, and glances over at Kanaya, her gaze heavy enough with meaning that Dave’s sure the two manage to have an entire conversation with just their eyes in seconds.

“We saw more bounty hunters,” Aradia adds then as an afterthought, and Dave's a little stunned by the realisation that he'd almost forgotten that entirely, “Out in the woods, about a mile from the ruin I think. If they’re gathering in the area too, this could be bad.”

Rose takes in a sharp breath. “It would seem all our worst enemies are gathering,” she says, a harsh, pained laugh forcing its way into her words, “I should have known just moving here would not protect us forever. These things are never so easily run from.”

“We need a plan,” Kanaya says firmly, “If there is the chance of war, then we need a plan.”

“So you really think there’s going to be a war?” Aradia asks.

“Yes,” Dave answers before Kanaya can speak, “Trust me. Everyone has been waiting for their chances at this for years. If there’s a chance at war, they’ll take it.”

“Then we need to get to work as quickly as possible,” Kanaya declares.

And that’s how it happens. Soon, the four of them are all gathered on the floor of the library, a yellowed sheet of parchment paper spread across the carpet between them as Kanaya notes down ideas.

“Why here?”Aradia asks in a long moment of silence, “Why is this region being targeted so suddenly. I’ve never seen a hunt to this scale, or one carried out by the royal guard for that matter.”

“This region has the highest concentration of magick in this entire land,” Kanaya explains, “It has been tradition for us to concentrate in these parts, and it would take only the slightest amount of historical knowledge and some inside information to work this out. I can only imagine they believe purging this area will put enough of a dent in our population to end us for good.”

“Will it?” Dave asks, and Kanaya sighs softly.

“If they were to attack in a certain way, I believe they would not find it hard to clear these lands of us completely. There may be human casualties too, but when have they cared about that?”

“We can’t fight back,” Rose says, stretching out slightly where’s she laying on her side, propped up on one elbow, looking calm aside from the dark fury in her eyes, “There are four of us, and hundreds of them, and probably more of them to join the camp in the coming weeks. We’d be up against thousands. And there’s barely enough people in our network to form even the smallest of armies.”

“So what, we leave?” Dave asks, “Leave the region until this war is over, then...regroup and try to rebuild the community?”

Rose shakes her head. “There is no safer place to go. Once this war starts here, it will become national, maybe even global. It would be slaughter.”

“This can’t be the end,” Aradia says, “Our kind have faced this stuff before. I find it hard to believe the end of everything falls down to us four. We’re not exactly remarkable. We’re not even anything to do with this, we’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Then I suppose...all we can do is wait,” Kanaya says, “Without knowing what they plan to do, we can’t even begin to think up what the right course of action is.”

“We’ll be sitting ducks,” Dave points out, and Kanaya heaves a heavy sigh.

“There is little else we ever are,” she points out, before sitting up and stretching out her back with a sigh, “Without further intel or support, I think Aradia’s right. This is out of our hands. This...this is not a responsibility we have the power to bear.”

For a long time they’re all silent. There’s a hopelessness in the air, and suddenly the house doesn’t feel quite so safe. The woods outside, visible through the glass of the conservatory beyond the library windows seem to hold too many invisible enemies. He shrinks back from it, keeping his eyes ahead on the others, or on the carpeted floor, and tries not to think about what lies in wait beyond the house’s walls.

And then Aradia draws in a sharp, excited breath. “I’ve got it,” she breathes excitedly.

“What?” Kanaya asks, raising her head a little in interest.

“The four of us don’t have enough strength or information to make any sense of this,” she says, “But what if we had information from someone with a much deeper understanding of both this world and others, and someone with a lot more strength?”

“What do you mean?” Kanaya asks.

“I mean,” Aradia says, with the slightest of smirks, “What we need is a demon. They're powerful beyond levels that any of us could ever hope to reach, and their skills for understanding and manipulating the nuances of this world could give us an advantage in tracking things a happening around us. A demon could be just enough to keep us safe, for a while at least. And Dave and Rose just happen to be on the lookout for a missing one. A missing demon, who was stolen by bounty hunters.”

“What are you suggesting?” Rose asks.

“Bounty hunters work in large groups, with lots of communication between them. If there are lots of bounty hunters in this area, it’s pretty easy to say at least one of them might have information about Karkat’s whereabouts. Karkat himself might even be nearby,” Aradia suggests.

At that, Dave feels a little hope flare slightly in his chest. Even through the darkness of what may await them in the silence, the thought of getting Karkat back from the grips of those monsters makes it feel a little lighter. He forces it down though. Hope has not served him well in the past, and misplaced hope is a dangerous thing, crushing people when it leaves them disappointed and fruitless.

“You know,” Rose says, “That’s not a bad idea.”

“Not bad indeed,” Kanaya says, and when Dave looks over at her he sees there’s a small smile growing on her face. “So, we check out the bounty hunter camp, see what we can find, maybe get some information from them? It could be a good start.”

“We’ve seen Karkat’s powers and senses at work,” Rose says, “He can sense a lot of things going on for miles around. Having his powers would give us significant benefit. And a demon’s protection would be helpful if we’re about to be under attack.”

“The bounty hunter camp is closest too,” Kanaya points out, “ A good first point of attack.”

“So it’s agreed then?” Dave checks, and gets nod and murmurs of agreement all around. He smiles very slightly to himself at the thought of getting to see Karkat again, despite knowing, deep down, that’s it going to be a difficult mission. “We’re going to rescue a demon,” he says, and gets a thrilled grin from Aradia in reply.

“Tomorrow,” Rose says, “We have no time to wait.”

Kanaya nods. “Tomorrow,” she agrees, “And once we’ve scoped that place out, we look to bigger targets. Our kind have fallen to these wars and hunts before. This time I will not allow us to be slaughtered where we sleep.”

Another ripple of agreement moves through the group, along with a faint cheer from Aradia, who nods at them all with a growing determination, and with a strike of a quill across the parchment, Kanaya begins a new plan. There’s a lot of work to do, and a lot of planning to do, but the four get to work, and soon there’s a hint of hope coming back to the group again, though the dread of what may be to come lingers over them for hours to come.

*****

Despite the lingering tension, dinner is a cheerful affair. Kanaya serves up heaped plates of steaming vegetables and meat, with slices of bread almost dripping with butter, cluttering it all onto the kitchen table for the group to eat in the warmth of the still glowing stove. The food is good, better than any either Dave or Rose have had in a long time, and he digs into it quickly, grateful for the warmth it brings to him and the feeling of a properly full stomach.

“Have you guys got jobs?” He finds himself asking halfway through the meal, just slightly confused by the expensive quality of everything around him.

“I do occasional seamstress work,” Kanaya says, “Freelance work, I suppose you could call it. Mostly the odd callout to fix a broken dress, or a commission for a special outfit. But not apart from that.”

“Then how…” Dave trails off. He doesn’t know how to phrase it without sounding rude, or nosy.

“How do we afford this house and food?” Kanaya guesses, “My mother was a very powerful woman in her time, and her inheritance was a sum of money good enough to fund several lifetimes worth of lavish living. And I get a little help from...supporters in far off regions, people who put money into running safe houses like these, that sort of thing.”

“You must have been the only person in your mother’s will then,” Dave guesses. Beside him he hears Rose inhale sharply through her teeth, and gets the sudden, crushing impression that he’s said something wrong as, at the same time, Kanaya’s face falls flat. Aradia shakes her head very slightly opposite him.

“Yes,” Kanaya says, her voice forcibly flat, “Yes I’m all that’s left of my family.” For a moment, Dave tenses in fear, worried he's started something he shouldn't have, but then, ever the cheerful host, she shakes her head, as if forcing away whatever misery has fallen over her, and reaches instead for her glass, half-full of fruit juice. “That’s enough about me,” she says, voice falling back into its usual cheery, polite manner, and raises up her glass, “To finding Karkat.”

Aradia grins, and raises her own, still full glass excitedly, clicking it against Kanaya’s so ferociously that juice splashes over the sides. “To finding Karkat!” She agrees, “And thank you Dave, for giving us all the chance to meet a demon!”

Dave can’t help letting out the smallest of laughs at that, Aradia’s strange but ever endearing manner is enough to cheer him up as always, and he raises his own glass as well, Rose copying his actions a moment later.

“Thank you all for helping us find him,” Dave adds, “I only hope we can find some clues in this.”

“We’ll start with the hunter camp tomorrow,” Kanaya assures him, “And from there, we make a plan.”

*****

Later, after he and Rose have scrubbed clean the plates and carefully stacked them away in the kitchen, Dave finds himself wandering the house alone again. Rose has returned to her own room, he has no idea for what purpose, and Aradia seems to have disappeared off again, and so when, while lurking in the doorway of the living room, he spots Kanaya sat on the rug by the fire in there, writing away on a sheet of paper, he decides to wander in and join her with lack of anything else to do. The vampire looks up as he approaches, and nods in greeting in his direction, before returning her attention back to her writing. Dave continues in, and sits down on the rug as well by the other side of the fireplace, appreciating the warmth of the flames if nothing else.

“What are you writing?” He asks after a moment, and Kanaya carefully sets aside her quill before looking up at him.

“A letter,” Kanaya replies, “There is a close acquaintance of mine, Jade, who lives out in the forest not many miles from here. The two of us exchange regular updates on anything in the area, and I felt it important to get her perspective on these new camps in the region. Plus, she is a master in tracking and scouting. If anyone has helpful advice for us in this demon finding mission, it will be Jade.”

“Oh yeah?” Dave asks, “Is she... like us? Any of us?”

“Jade is a werewolf,” Kanaya replies bluntly, and Dave finds himself reminded once again of just how clearly open about all of this stuff Kanaya is. Unlike him, she, it would seem, has not been conditioned to think of speaking of magick as a shameful thing.

“Huh,” Dave says, “Sure are a lot of different folks around here.”

Kanaya grins slightly, fangs glinting in the firelight. “More than you could ever imagine,” she says, and then gently scoops up her quill again, dipping the tip gently into a pot of ink left beside the fireplace.

For a moment, Dave is quiet, simply watching as Kanaya writes down a few more sentences, the long feather of her quill gently brushing her chin as she leans in close to the paper to see it properly in the low, flickering light. And then, with a light flourish, Kanaya signs off the letter and sets it aside onto the floor, before turning to face Dave again. He’s almost expecting her to simply get up and leave, but Kanaya, it seems, is in the mood for conversation that night.

“Your sword,” she says, nodding at the weapon Dave had almost forgotten he had stowed back away in his belt after returning to the house with Aradia, “You carry it always, even inside. Why?”

Dave shrugs. “Safety,” he says, “Better to have a weapon than to have none. I forgot it earlier when I was with Aradia and it was a stupid mistake. We’d have been defenceless out there if the bounty hunters had found us.”

“But you don’t need it right now,” Kanaya points out, and Dave sighs. He knows what she’s hinting at, knows that Rose has probably told her some hint of his past, but he’s not quite sure how much of it he’s ready to share.

“It’s just instinct, I suppose,” he tells her, and she nods.

“Old habits die hard,” she says in agreement, and then holds a hand out gently, “May I see?”

Dave pauses for a moment, but then, seeing no harm in it, unstraps his sword from its sheath on his belt, and passes it over. There’s a moment where the two of them both watch the firelight glance off the sharp blade, and then Kanaya gently takes the weight of it from him, long, cold fingers encircling its well-worn handle, and then holds it slightly aloft for a second.

“Nice metal work,” she comments, running a finger over the carefully carved handle, with its shapes of branches and vines stretching their way up towards the blade, “Where did you get yourself a blade like this?”

Dave regards her carefully. “You know,” he says. It’s not a question.

“I think so,” she says, “Rose, I’ll admit, has told me a little. But, if it’s alright, I’d like to hear it from you.”

Dave trusts her. He doesn’t know why. He’s only known her for twenty-four hours after all, but he can’t help feeling safer around her. He’s heard descriptions of vampires as terrible creatures, imposing strangers of the night striking fear into the hearts of everyone that looks upon them. But looking at Kanaya, kneeling by the fire, her hands ink-stained and her bright eyes just a little over-shadowed with tiredness, he finds nothing but admiration for her, and for the life she’s created here.

“The sword was given to me by my older brother,” he says. Kanaya startles a little. After all that silence, it seems she hadn’t expected an answer at all. “He always told me that I’d be a great fighter. It was what he trained me for. Being a fighter...it’s all I’ve ever had.”

“You were to work for the Black King,” Kanaya states bluntly, and Dave flinches. It hurts to hear it said so simply, his darkest secret so easily shared, and he finds himself once again more and more reminded that, in Kanaya’s mind, nothing seems taboo here. Still, the thought stirs dark, childhood memories in his mind, the clash of steel and armour crashing around his mind as it always does when he finds himself in a panic, and he does his best to force it from his thoughts. His fear of the Black King, and all he was ever meant to be, has not yet faded from his mind.

“Yes,” he admits weakly after a long moment, and is surprised when he finds Kanaya to not be bothered at all by his admission, “It was all I was ever made to be.”

“And so you cling onto the sword because without it you aren’t you,” Kanaya says, as if she understands it completely. And maybe she does. Who’s Dave to assume she doesn’t?

“I suppose,” he says, “I mean, being a fighter, a protector, it’s what I am. And if one day I don’t have my sword, and I don’t get to protect the people I’m meant to, then...I don’t know I just -”

“Would feel like you’d failed in who you were supposed to be?” Kanaya guesses as he trails off, and Dave sighs softly.

“What is it with you and Rose and apparently everyone else always knowing what I’m feeling before even I know it?” He huffs.

“I think, David,” Kanaya says gently, holding the sword back out towards him, “That you stop yourself from hearing your own thoughts, because you’re scared of what you’ll find there.” She waits until he takes the sword back from her, balancing the familiar weight in his palms, and then she gently folds her letter into the depths of one of her skirt’s pockets, and gathers up the rest of her things before getting to her feet.

“Get some sleep, Dave,” she says, glancing back down at him with a faint smile before she leaves the room, “There’s work to do in the morning.” She pauses, though, in the doorway for a moment, and pokes her head back into the room. “You know,” she says gently, “No one here will ever judge you for a life you were forced into.”

And at that, she’s gone, and Dave is alone again, left by the crackling fire as it warms the house, his sword held gently out in two hands and feeling, for the first time, like he has no idea what he’s supposed to do with it. Is it true, he wonders, that his past is not the issue he always thought it would be? How is it that such great people like Kanaya and Rose find himself honourable even in his dark past? Long minutes pass, stretching out as he stares into the flames, lost deep in his thoughts, and then he moves himself up onto his feet in a slight daze, sword in hand, and and turns for the doorway too, thoughts of a warm bed and a long sleep drawing him finally from his thoughts, and dragging him all the way up the stairs in and into the sanctuary of his darkened bedroom. When his head hits the pillow, sleep comes fast, but not fast enough to stop him registering the swirling feeling of fearful apprehension slowly surfacing in his stomach as the world slips away.

*****

He wakes on his second morning in the house, this time not to silence but to quite the opposite. There’s voices from downstairs, loud to him even from upstairs, and within moments of getting up and dressed he’s on his way down to the kitchen. Kanaya and Rose are at the table, lingering over scraps of plans, a heavy crossbow laying over the top of the pieces of paper. As Dave steps into the room, Kanaya lifts the crossbow and checks it carefully, settling the weight into her arms.

“So, it’s today, then?” He asks, a question he already knows the answer to, “We’re gonna go spy on some bounty hunters?”

“We are!” Aradia exclaims, appearing seemingly out of nowhere and passing over a slice of bread to him. “And then we’re gonna find out where your demon friend is so we can rescue him!”

“We might not find anything,” Dave reminds her, and she just turns her nose up at him.

“News spreads like wildfire amongst bounty hunters,” she says, “If a few of them found a demon, the rest of them will know what happened to him.”

Dave shrugs, not wanting to draw too much hope from it despite how much he really does want them to find at least some sign of Karkat, and takes a bite of bread thoughtfully. He’s distracted entirely, though, by Aradia suddenly drawing out of her weapon of choice from where it’s been stored behind the door, and almost chokes on bread as he huffs out a snort of laughter.

“What?” She frowns, though her eyes light up with a slight mirth as she speaks.

“Really?” Dave asks, “A whip? That’s what you’re going with?”

Aradia grins devilishly at him, and flicks the whip, the tip of it just grazing Dave’s leg with nowhere near enough force to cause damage. “You’d do well not to underestimate me,” she says, “It’s never let me down before. And it’s more fun than yours, Mr fancy sword man.”

Dave laughs again, Aradia’s gentle teasing doing a good job at easing away the itching anxiety at the back of his mind, and he steps aside as she flicks the whip lazily against the kitchen floor so that it smacks the end of his shoe.

“Come on then, _children_ ,” Kanaya sighs with a teasing tone, a slight smile on her face when Dave looks up at her, “Let’s go and do something stupid.” She fixes her eyes on Dave as she speaks, and he dips his head to her with a small smile of acknowledgement. She knows how much this means to him, he can tell.

“Oh hell yes,” he says, feeling for the first time in a long time that awful but addictive mix of fear and excitement bubbling up inside of him at the prospect of a mission of sorts. As they go to leave, he looks over at Rose, and her gaze is knowing. This, he feels, will be the most important thing they have done in a long while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i despise this chapter so uh yeh sorry it's kinda bad compare to other recent chapters?? i just have done my usual thing of getting too excited about ending scenes ive already written which makes me feel less happy about these parts. idk. anyway the next chapters are ones i'm excited to write so hopefully they'll be better. but uhh...slowly revealing some of dave's past is fun, i'm excited to see what you guys think as i expand on the truth of his childhood.  
> anyway thanks for ever as reading, i'm very grateful for your guys reading this. - C


	9. Chapter 9

“Well, shit.”

It’s still cold outside, the chill of last night clinging to the air even now as they peer out of one side of the forest, led by Aradia to a gently sloped hill now entirely covered by a ramshackle campsite of handmade tents set up in some vague attempt at organisation. The scene is impressive to survey, if not menacing too, huge and ominous as it is.

“For once, Dave,” Rose says slowly, taking a careful step forward where they’re hidden in a line of shrubbery, “I have to agree with you: Shit.”

Crouched beside Dave, Kanaya adjusts her crossbow where it’s resting in her hands, neatly training an arrow on the camp just in case. “Are those all bounty hunters?” She asks, “I knew they were pack hunters, but I’ve never seen quite so many together at once.”

“I didn’t even know there were that many of them in existence,” Dave replies darkly, “Can’t be good that they’re having this little convention.”

“No,” Rose says with a sigh of agreement, “Not good at all.”

For a long moment then, the four are silent, staring in horror at the camp that has spread out across the hillside like a rash. It’s crawling with hunters, moving between tents and hurrying to and fro. The glint of metal in sunlight alerts Dave to the weapons they’re all carrying, and his stomach stirs with anxiety at the realisation of just how outnumbered the four of them would be if they were to be spotted.

“What’s the plan, guys?” He asks, unsheathing his sword and swinging the hilt gently in his hand.

“Attack?” Aradia suggests with a shrug.

“How about no to that,” Kanaya replies, “We’re highly outnumbered here and we don't have a strong enough plan. For today we’ll just try and scout this place out a little.”

“That’s it?” Aradia asks.

“That’s it,” Kanaya confirms, stern but concernedly so. “And if we find out anything of importance, then we make further plans,” she adds, “But I don’t want us risking anything on this place if it won’t be of help.”

“So we just sneak around then?” Aradia asks, still apparently excited at the prospect.

“Yes, exactly,” Kanaya says, “Find out what you can. Main entrances and exits to the camps, important places, that sort of thing. You and Dave stick together, as will Rose and I. We’ll meet back here once we’re done, or if things get too dangerous, okay?”

“Alright,” Dave says, “We’ll see what we can find.”

Kanaya nods once at him. “See if you can work out what’s going on here and why they’re all gathering here,” she adds before her and Rose turn to leave. Rose leans in towards Kanaya to mutter something as the two of them walk away, and Dave hears Kanaya laugh quietly before the two get too far enough away that the wind carries their voices off.

“Those two,” Aradia muses quietly, “Close, aren’t they? I almost thought they were - you know.”

“Yeah,” Dave nods thoughtfully, and then, at the thought of his usually stern and controlled sister in any sort of relationship, adds, “Gross.”

Aradia lets out a snort of laughter, and then waves a hand towards the camp. “Wanna go spy on some bounty hunters?” She asks, and Dave nods.

“Let’s do this.”

Together, they set off around to the edge of the hill, and then up it, sneaking along the edge of the campsite itself. It’s still early, and not everyone in the camp seems out and about just yet, but they’re careful to remain out of sight as they head further upwards, eventually reaching the edge of the densest part of the camp.

“Should we go in?” Aradia asks as they creep up to the back of one of the tents at the camp’s very outskirts.

Dave shrugs. “Nothing else to do,” he says, and then carefully takes a few steps past the tent, peering around it to make sure there’s no one in the immediate area before hurrying past the tent and ducking down behind yet another. Aradia follows behind him silently, copying his exact moves, and crouches beside him.

“Dave,” she calls before he can make any other moves, “Dave, what’s the plan here?”

Dave shrugs. “Head to where there’s more people and try and see if we can find anything important?” He suggests.

“And don’t get caught,” Aradia adds.

“And don’t get caught,” he agrees with a nod, and then takes his opportunity to hurry across the gap towards the next gap. He hears a slight sigh from behind him as Aradia follows.

From there, they start to zigzag back and forth throughout the camp, not going too far into the centre for fear of getting caught and instead sticking to the lesser populated sides of it. There’s still not a lot of people out and about in the camp, people only just starting to go about their day, but the two watch a few groups of hunters hurrying back and forth as they go between tents, carrying weapons and crates, filled with something Dave can’t quite make out, covered with sheets draped over the top. The camp itself is far more organised than it had appeared from the outside. Tents seem to sit in little organised sections, with fires and stoves and communal seating areas set up between them. It’s more like a tiny, temporary town than a campsite. Dave’s heard before just how good bounty hunters are at living on the move, but he’s never seen it in action. It’s almost breathtaking to watch them at work, so at ease with their surroundings it’s easy for a moment to grow too comfortable, and forget they’re surrounded by bloodthirsty assassins. Despite it all, though, everything around the camp is so calm and simple that he’s about to give up, with them finding nothing seemingly of any importance around them. But then, as they’re moving behind another tent, they hear footsteps approaching their direction.

“Get down!” He hisses, making a grab at Aradia’s sleeve and managing to drag her down behind the tent with him just as the two men walk past between the two shelters. He almost breathes out a sigh of relief, but it catches in his throat as the two are stopped by yet another hunter on patrol, and the group of three start to talk right there in the gap between the two tents.

“Good morning,” one of the men says, and his colleague lets out a scoff.

“Is it?” He grunts, “Stuck out here in this godforsaken camp for another day?”

“Ah c’mon man!” Comes the third voice, and Dave tenses as he recognises it as that of the young female hunter from the fight that night, “We’re gonna get paid well, remember? Gold and blood, they promised!”

“That’s the general idea of war, yes,” the second huffs, “But how much waiting are we gonna have to do? Waiting for orders from some invisible general.”

“I heard it’s the King!” She replies excitedly, “You’ve gotta be excited to help the king purge the land, surely?”

“Purge?” Laughs the first man, “Where do you get these words?”

“That’s what they’re saying, isn’t it?” She shrugs, “Purge the land of the devil and all that. Finally clear out the last of the witches. It’s gonna be great. Finally us bounty hunters will be powerful again.”

“Has it occurred to you that if we kill all the witches, there won’t be much work left for us?” One man grumbles.

“Humans commit crime too,” the other man points out, and the young girl lets out an exasperated sigh.

“It’s war! Who cares?” She exclaims, “We get to fight!”

“Dave!” Aradia hisses quietly, crouched by his side, poking at him as she finally gets bored of listening in, “We should go!”

He’s about to agree with her, knowing they're too close and too exposed for this to be safe, when he hears it.

“If the rest of ‘em are like that little freak locked up in the Boss’s tent, I think I’ve seen enough witchcraft for a lifetime,” one of the men says, and Dave freezes, blood running ice cold.

“Did he just -” Aradia gasps.

“Yeah,” Dave mutters, “Yeah he did. They’ve got someone.”

“Karkat?” Aradia asks, and Dave nods tensely.

“Has to be,” he says, “Where else could he be?” He turns back to the conversation, straining for any other information, but the three are already strolling away, now laughing about something amongst themselves

Dave’s heart is racing as he stands up in the tight space, stretching a leg quickly and then spinning in a circle, desperate for any sight of the tent where Karkat might be. “The boss’s tent,” he says, “These guys have a boss? Where would someone like that be staying?”

“It all looks the same to me,” Aradia sighs, “Just rows and rows of tents. He could be in any of them, and it would be stupid to start trying to break into random tents.”

Dave nods, swallowing through a rush of adrenaline as he turns again and gets his entire vision swamped by walls upon walls of off-white canvas. Suddenly, any single one of them could be hiding Karkat behind it, and that old, primal instinct comes back, bringing with it the urge to take his sword and start slashing at things. Aradia’s hand landing firmly on his wrist alerts him to the fact that his sword has somehow ended up in his hand again.

“Rose and Kanaya,” she says simply, “They might know more. We should find them.”

He stows the sword back away, and takes a deep breath, and tries to push back the adrenaline and racing thoughts. “When did you get sensible?” he asks, and Aradia snorts.

“Never,” she says, “I just think Kanaya would be mad if we tore this place up without telling her first.”

Dave laughs loudly, forgetting for a second where they’re currently hiding, and shoves at Aradia’s elbow fondly. “Come on then, back to the meeting spot?”

Aradia shrugs. “It’s our best bet,” she says, and then the two of them set off, back out of the camp and towards the bottom of the hill.

*****

By the time they break out of the camp and reach the trees, they’re both running, Aradia laughing a little between heavy breaths and Dave looking around wildly for any sign of the other two. Finally, through the branches, he catches a glimpse of something dark purple, and then the distant movement of Rose.

“There!” He calls out to Aradia, pointing, and dives after the movement, wondering as he does so what exactly the other two are doing out here so deep into the woods already.

“Rose!” Dave calls as he reaches her, stumbling to a halt as she turns around to face him, “Rose, listen, did you two hear anything about whoever’s in charge of this place?”

“Some boss guy? Yeah,” Rose agrees, “He’s got the biggest tent at the top of the hill but Dave-”

Dave’s heart lurches excitedly. “Right, we’ve gotta attack it,” he says, drawing his sword out from his belt, “Now.”

“I’ve got your back,” Aradia says, lashing her whip against the forest floor and watching it strike a scar across the soft ground, “You cut them down and I’ll keep them down!”

“Right, yeah, okay,” Dave says with a nod, “Rose, Kan, you’ll come too, right?”

“Both of you wait a second!” Rose snaps, and the two fall silent in their excited rambling, “Right. Now explain exactly what’s going on here.”

“Karkat’s in that tent,” Dave explains quickly, “We heard some hunters talking and it has to be him, it's the only thing that makes sense and -” He falls silent as he watches Rose and Kanaya exchange one quick look between them.

“Dave we can’t,” Rose says gently, and he feels his heart sink. Of course, of course she wouldn’t listen to him. Suddenly he’s angry. “We don’t even have a plan, and there’s only four of us.”

 _“There’s only ever going to be four of us!”_ Dave all but screams, the pent up frustration of the last few days suddenly spilling out of him where it’s been lurking, red and hot and brewing, in his veins and the pit of his stomach, "I don't know if you noticed Rose, but we're all alone in this! No one's coming to rescue us or help us. Not this time." He sees Rose’s face drop ever so slightly at it, eyes flashing with a depth of emotion he can't quite read. Still, her calm composure holds, and he sees her eyes dip closed for a second in tired acceptance.

“Dave I know it’s hard but -”

“But he’s just a demon, right?” Dave guesses, biting back the urge to shout again as movement in his peripheral alerts him to the fact that they’re still in close range to a camp seething with bounty hunters armed to the teeth and thirsty for blood.

“No!” Rose snaps back, “Dave, no! You know I value Karkat, and I would love to have him back, but I also don’t want a dead brother!”

“Listen, both of you!” Kanaya says then, and the two fall silent. There’s just something too powerful about the way she towers over them Dave decides as he looks up and finds himself in direct eye contact with her. “Thank you,” she says, with a snap of her fangs together that seems just slightly unnecessary but Dave can at least appreciate the dramatics. “Right, now,” she says a little more calmly, “Rose is right, Dave.”

“But-”

“No, listen to me,” Kanaya says, “She’s right. Whilst we were up there, we overhead some stuff too. This isn’t just bounty hunters excited by war. They’ve been called here by the King.”

“We heard that too,” Aradia nods, “It would seem war really is an inevitability right now.”

Kanaya nods. “The war will start here, and sweep across the entire county, taking out every witch, inhuman creature, and slight anomaly that crosses its path. And they have an uncomfortable amount of knowledge of where to find us.”

“So...what do we do?” Dave asks with a reluctant sigh, “Aradia said Karkat could help, so why not rescue him?”

“We will,” Kanaya says, “The four of us will. But not today. We need better planning; I could never have predicted we’d find this today. We need better weapons and protection, and a better plan of attack. Now we know the area we can plan better but I will not risk lives by sending anyone in there again today. Okay?”

Her gaze, still fixed entirely on him, is intense but gentle, and Dave feels the last of the anger and adrenaline melt away under it. He doesn’t know Kanaya, not really, doesn’t know how old she is or just what she’s faced in her life, but she’s far more experienced in this than him, that he can tell; saving and protecting lives is what she does best, after all. Better than him, he thinks, and he was supposed to be a knight once.

“Okay,” he sighs gently, “But I can’t...I can’t leave him there much longer, Kan, I owe it to him to rescue him.”

“Then let’s get home and get planning,” she says with a small nod, “We’re going to save your friend, Dave, but we’re going to do it together, and as safely as we possibly can.” She nods once at him with a kind smile, and then turns to leave back the way they came. Her hand falls down onto Aradia’s shoulder as she goes, pulling the younger girl along with her, deliberately, Dave realises, leaving him alone with Rose.

“I’m just looking out for you, you know?” Rose says gently as they begin to follow at a slower pace.

“I know,” Dave grumbles, “I know. I just...I’m not a kid, anymore. I don’t need it.”

Rose sighs heavily, and pauses a moment, turning to face him as Dave too stops and looks at her with a roll of his eyes. “I know you don’t need looking after, Dave,” she says with a shrug, “Out of all of us, you’re easily the most sufficient.”

“Then why -”

“Because I could not bear to lose you,” Rose says, “After everything, I can’t lose you too. And if something ever happened to you, and I knew I hadn’t done enough to protect you, I could never forgive myself.”

Dave blinks once. Twice. Forgets to breathe for a second. Recovers, just barely.

“Rose,” he says, and surprises himself with how quietly his own voice comes out, a little shaky too. In his head, he sees her as she once was: a stranger, revealed to him as a sister he never knew he had, appearing in his darkest hour with a promise that the world didn’t have to be as awful as he’d been taught it was. “Rose,” he says again, as he looks up at his sister who’s saved him already so many times before, “You could never let me down.” And then he reaches up and pulls her forwards into a tight hug. There’s a lot he should have said all put into that hug, and he feels her shoulder slump in relief as she leans into it, one of her hands coming up to grip the back of his neck for just a second.

“Thank you, Dave,” she whispers quietly, sounding almost tearful, though Dave’s sure he must be imagining that. And then she clears her throat roughly, and steps back from him with a nervous smile. “Now let’s go catch up with the others and get home, okay?” She says, “We’ve got a demon rescue plan to write up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry if this chapter is shorter and kinda bad, and also for the long wait for it. the last week has been bad for me health wise, and i've had a lot of days where i literally haven't had the ability to look at a computer screen for more than ten minutes at a time. im working on it, and got a good plan for the next chapter (and i'm super excited to write it and know you guys are gonna love the next chapter), but bear with me <3
> 
> (edit: just realised this fic is now my longest ever fic, so thanks to you all for keeping me motivated to keep this going haha)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: violence, fights, injury, blood, kidnap and being held hostage

It’s barely even midday by the time they get home, their expedition having not taken as much time as they’d quite been expecting, and none of them waste any time in hurrying to gather around the table in the kitchen.

“Dave,” Kanaya says as she prepares tea for the group, “You’re sure you heard what you say you did?”

“I’m sure,” he says, “Even if it’s not Karkat...there’s someone like us locked up in that camp.”

“He’s right,” Aradia says, “I heard it too.”

“Then we need to break them out,” Kanaya says with a sharp nod, “As soon as possible.”

“Tomorrow?” Rose suggests, and all three of them turn towards her curiously.

“You’ve changed your tune,” Dave says, and she smirks back at him.

“Right now we know where the prisoner is, and what the camp is like,” Rose says, “If we wait too long, things could change. The camp’s layout or the location of the prisoner could change any day, so if we get in there as soon as possible, we minimise that risk.”

“Tomorrow, then,” Kanaya says, and Dave feels a thrill at the thought that tomorrow this could all be over. Well, this part of it could all be over, at least. They’ve got a long way to go until everything’s right again, that’s for sure.

“So,” Rose says, “Plan?”

“We storm them!” Aradia declares.

“Okay, that’s not a plan,” Rose replies, “But that is the general idea.”

“If we get in there early,” Dave wonders out loud, “Before everyone is awake, and head straight for the main boss’s tent, there might be a good enough ratio between them and us that half of us could keep watch on the entrance while the rest of us get in, take out whoever’s in the tent, and then free the prisoner.”

“Would we be able to escape afterwards after getting that much attention?” Kanaya asks, and Dave shrugs. Truly, he doesn’t know.

“I don’t know, Kan,” he sighs, “But I don’t think there’s ever going to be an easy option for that one. We just gotta do our best.”

Kanaya considers that for a moment, tapping a hand against the surface of the table as she thinks. “We need better weapons,” she says eventually, “I can’t take out multiple attackers quickly with a crossbow, and Aradia’s whip doesn’t do enough damage. I won’t take you guys in without proper protection.” 

Dave nods then, a slight grin on his face. Kanaya, he thinks, is just like him. She’s a knight in her own way, a protector of her people. Looking around, he doesn’t think there’s any other people he’d rather be part of rescue mission with.

“Well then, Kan,” he says with a grin, “Let’s hope you’ve got some weapons laying around in this dusty old place of yours.”

Kanaya smirks back at him, tutting at his teasing, and then picks up the teapot. “Alright,” she says with a nod, “But first, you all need a good cup of warm tea.”

*****

Later, they set out into the house to gather together the weapons that Kanaya is sure have been left behind by past residents and passing travellers. Aradia, drawn in by promises of a good, sturdy blade, trudges down to a dingy basement room, Dave deciding he’s good to leave her to do that by herself after getting one glimpse at the frankly terrifying room. Instead, he finds himself searching the empty bedrooms on the second floor with Kanaya, watching as she produces a longsword out from under a bed and brushes dust from it.

“This was Rufio’s,” she says, tracing a pattern of leaves carved into the worn hilt, “He was a summoner I knew once. Left this behind and...I haven’t seen him since.” Her face darkens, and Dave knows what she’s thinking. He doesn’t bring it up.

They stroll out of the room together, Kanaya balancing the blade carefully in one hand, feeling the weight of it in her arm, and Dave smiles fondly at her obvious inexperience. She’s handy with a crossbow, and he’s seen her wield a butcher’s knife with ease preparing dinner the night before, but she seems afraid of the sword, eyes darting back and forth between the tip of the blade and the hilt she’s gripping far too tightly.

“Nah, Kan,” he tells her, “Here, hold it like this.” He adjusts it in her hand, easing at her fingers until they loosen on the hilt. “Don’t think of it as an object. It’s an extension of your arm. The movements don’t come from your hand, they come from the elbow and the shoulder. Sometimes we bring in the wrist for smaller movements, but even then you’ve got to trace the movement all the way down from your shoulder. Every movement of the sword aligns with your own muscle movements.” 

Kanaya nods, and takes a few precarious swings of the sword, jabbing and slicing at open air.

“Nice,” Dave tells her with a nod, “couple of practices and we’ll make a trusty swordsman out of you.”

Kanaya nods, a little bashful, and lets the blade slip a little, point turning to face the faded carpet. “You know, you’d make a good teacher, Dave,” she tells him.

“Always fancied I would,” he admits with a grin, and she smiles fondly back. 

As Kanaya swings the blade again, feeling its weight through her arm now, Dave turns and looks further down the hall, finding himself faced with that staircase up to the third floor that he’d investigated the day before. Without really thinking about it, he heads for it. 

“Anything up here?” He asks, already heading up the stairs towards the top floor, where, he now remembers, he’d found that old locked door.

“Oh, no, Dave, there’s nothing up there!” He hears Kanaya call from behind him, with the sound of her crumbling up the stairs behind him, and she all but crashes into him at the top, the sword in her hand falling to the ground with a clang. 

“You alright?” Dave asks, bending down to scoop it up and pass it back to her, only to find Kanaya staring over his shoulder at that same locked door. “Kan?”

“Sorry, sorry,” she mutters, snapping herself out of her thoughts and looking back to him with a slight shake of her head, “I just don’t make a habit of coming up here a lot.”

“Oh, sorry,” he says, “Want me to go back downstairs?” 

She almost looks like she’s going to nod, but then her eyes drift back to the door, and she nods him over to follow her as she steps up to it, resting that sword back down onto the floor so she can raise a hand up to trace the letters engraved there. 

“PM?” Dave asks.

Kanaya sighs deeply. “Porrim Maryam,” she replies gently, “My sister.”

“Oh.” Dave feels his heart skip a little, knowing then that he’s uncovered something he maybe shouldn’t have, but when he looks up at Kanaya her face is so open that he feels maybe she’s been waiting to speak about this to someone for a long time. “She’s uh...not around anymore?” He asks cautiously, though he thinks he already knows the answer a little.

“She died,” Kanaya says gently, “She went out on a trip with my mother one day. There were hunters in the area and they were careless. Porrim didn’t survive.”

“And your mother?” He asks.

“Oh who knows where she is,” Kanaya huffs, “She’s the head of a nomadic coven. Last I heard they were spotted on the Western mountain pass a few months ago. I’m lucky if I get a letter a year from her.”

“She just left you?” Dave asks, and sees Kanaya set her jaw tight.

“Yes,” she mutters, through slightly gritted teeth, “After Porrim’s death my mother spiralled out of control a little. It’s fair to say Porrim was the favourite child and without her my mother went a little rogue. She picked up her coven and moved them to the grounds of a supposed healing lake just North of here, but then I suppose the life of travelling got into her bones and she was never able to return home. We all have different ways of dealing with things.”

“How old were you when she left?” Dave asks, and then pauses, “Uh wait actually...how old are you now?”

Kanaya lets out an amused huff. “Vampires can be born, you know?” She smiles, “We’re not all ancient. I’m only a year or so older than your sister. And I was fifteen when Porrim died, sixteen when my mother left.”

“She left you when you were sixteen?” Dave blurts out, and then winces apologetically.

Kanaya nods. “And I’ve been here ever since,” she smiles, “That’s when I started letting others stay here. It seemed foolish to waste the room, and I can always do with the company. Plus, I saw the horrors our community was suffering, and I wanted to do whatever I could to help.”

“Well I think you’ve done a fair deal,” Dave says with a nod, “You’ve helped a lot of people from what Rose tells me.”

Kanaya smiles at him, eyes a little distant. “Porrim would have liked you,” she says, “She had the same fiery spirit, that passion to do things quick and right. You remind me a lot of her.” She reaches for the sword again, tucking it gently under one arm, and then heads back for the stairs. As she passes, she lays a hand lightly on Dave’s elbow for a second, and then she’s gone, spiralling back downwards into the house, and distantly he thinks he hears Aradia call out to her. Dave pauses a second, alone now up there, and faces the door, bearing it’s initials like a branded memory.

“I’ll look after your sister, Porrim,” he tells the door quietly, tapping one hand thoughtfully against the hilt of his sword, one finger tracing the markings on the hilt, “If it’s the last thing I do.”

He’s distracted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

*****

The woman in the living room is...energetic, to say the least.

From the moment Dave gets into the room, their new visitor is pacing back and forth and shooting rapid fire information and questions at Kanaya, all of which the vampire takes in her stride, even taking notes here and there. Sat together on one of the old, dusty sofas, Dave and Aradia watch on in shared confusion, until Kanaya seems to suddenly remember they’re there.

“Oh!” She says with a clap of her hand, “Dave, Aradia, this is Jade.”

Jade immediately spins around from where she’s talking hurriedly to Rose, and grins at the both of them. “You’re Dave!” She exclaims, “Rose has told me so much about you!”

“Uh, hi,” Dave says quietly, and Jade waves a hand excitedly at him, before suddenly diving towards a bag she’s discarded by the side of the room. So, this is Kanaya’s werewolf friend. As she digs through her bag, Dave gets a good look at her properly for the first time. Jade is tall and muscular to an extent that puts his own personal training to shame, with an explosion of black curly hair down past her waist that’s only halfway held back in a loose ponytail with a green ribbon. Her clothes are thick, leather-like material, laced up in multiple places and all dark greens and khaki colours, looking almost hand made, and the thick boots she’s wearing are heavy enough that Dave reckons she could pin down a grown man with one foot. All in all, she’s a little imposing to say the least, but when she scrambles back up to her feet she’s grinning widely and bouncing on her toes a little in excitement, looking far too enthusiastic.

“I went up to see the bounty hunter camp earlier,” Jade says, “If you four are going to try and storm it -”

“Not storm it,” Kanaya says, “Just...get in, get what we need, and get back out.”

Jade cocks her head to one side. “Sounds like storming it to me,” she shrugs, and then hands over a piece of paper. “Well luckily for you, I scouted around a bit while I was there anyway, used scent trails to work out the least used paths, that sort of thing. If you need a guide in, I’m your girl.”

“Really?” Kanaya asks, “You’d help?”

Jade nods. “You know I won’t get myself into a fight,” she says, “I’ve got the pack to protect and letting those hunters get on my tail is the last thing I need, but I’ll get you in and out, and you can trust I’ll be there as a backup if it’s really needed.”

Dave’s a little surprised to hear Jade say she’s not interested in the fight itself. But it’s clear that for all her enthusiasm and obvious strength she’s not one to take as many risks as the rest of them. Dave wonders for a second about her pack. Just how many of them are there? And is Jade their leader? Alpha, if that’s even the correct term? He doesn’t get time to ask any of this, though, because soon Jade and Kanaya are pouring over the makeshift maps Jade has scribbled roughly onto scraps of paper, spreading them out across the old, scratched up coffee table.

Jade, it would appear, has been selling herself short. She’s got far more information than Dave can fathom, having worked out the best routes in and out of the camp, and having gone as far as to use scent trails to work out frequency and routes of guard patrols. It’s everything they need for a proper break in.

“We sure are lucky you stopped in today and not tomorrow,” Kanaya says at some point in the afternoon, as Jade’s presenting a strong plan for sneaking them in.

Jade grins toothily. “Put it down to instinct,” she tells Kanaya with a sly nod, and then they’re back to planning.

*****

By the time they finalise everything, the sun has long set, and there’s a fire crackling merrily away to itself in the fireplace as they continue to stay gathered together there. Aradia and Dave lounge on one sofa, Rose and Kanaya draped across the other, while Jade settles herself comfortably on her side on the rug, occasionally lifting her hands to warm them in the flames.

“Ah, it’s been a long time since I had a proper meeting like this,” Jade says after a moment, “Feels like the good old crusade days.”

Kanaya snorts softly, and raises up her glass of the cheap wine she’d produced earlier. “Cheers to that,” she murmurs amusedly.

“Crusades?” Rose asks, lifting an eyebrow.

“Jade and I grew up together,” Kanaya explains, “We used to rob shops in the local village.”

Jade lets out a peal of laughter, rolling over onto her stomach, and grins up at them. “Turns out it was good training for this,” Jade says, and Kanaya rolls her eyes.

“I don’t think they quite compare,” she points out, and Jade just pulls a face at her before turning to face back towards the fire. 

The evening feels light, filled for a long time with conversation and laughter until tiredness starts to sneak its way into the group, slowly peeling them apart and sending them al trailing off to their own separate rooms. Still, even as Dave tucks himself carefully into his bed that night, there’s a warm feeling fluttering in his chest, a mixture of the good company and the not so good wine, he thinks, and he sinks down into that golden warmth as he drifts off, feeling, he realises, fully calm for the first time in a long while. The calm before the storm, his mind suggests, and pushes the thought away just before he finally sinks down into the darkness of sleep.

*****

Morning comes far too fast, and brings with it hasty, early preparations in the kitchen. Aradia turns up in a neatly buttoned down red jacket and matching trousers, her nicest battle outfit apparently, and wields her new sword with a grin, swinging it around and watching it glint in the kitchen’s sunlight until Kanaya tells her to stop before she takes someone’s eye out. Jade, once again all coughing and enthusiastic, takes on the burden of a pack of emergency supplies on her back: bandages and medicines and an emergency blade, everything they need in the case of disaster. They’re loud as they work to be ready to leave, too loud. The laughter feels slightly forced, their smiles strained, all of them trying too hard to cover up the fear that lingers in silence. And then, all too soon and yet feeling like they’ve been waiting for that moment forever at the same time, they’re ready to leave, and step out into the freezing cold of a morning that’s not quite yet broken.

The journey to the camp now is familiar enough that they walk less cautious, pace fast, desperate to get there and get the job done. Dave decides not to think what might happen if they don’t get this job done right. There are no second attempts to be had here, he knows that at least. And then the camp breaks through the morning haze like a terrifying beacon, less active with life than it had been the day before and yet still with enough hunters around to cause them some issue. But Jade’s plan is already in motion, and she leads them a convoluted route up the side of the hill, weaving in and out of trees and shrubbery until they’re near the top. From there, Dave finally gets a glimpse of the tent they’re headed for: huge and looming and decorated with a range of coloured flags whose meanings he can only guess at. He rests a hand heavily on his sword’s hilt as he takes in their target, and readies himself.

“This is where I leave you,” Jade says quietly, “I’ll meet you down at the back of the hill, in the woods. I’ll be listening out, believe me, but you won’t see me unless you need me.” And then she reaches out and presses small objects into each of their hands.

“Dog whistles?” Dave guesses.

“Dog whistles,” Jade nods, “You call me if you need me.” And then she bounds off into the woods again, still saddling that pack of supplies. They watch until she disappears, and then turn as one to face the edge of the camp.

“Let’s go,” Kanaya says with a determined nod, and they’re off.

The first few lines of tens are easy to get through. They take the same approach Dave and Aradia had the day before, weaving between them and ducking and hiding whenever hunters pass in the nearby area. But as they get closer to the main tent, it becomes clear this tactic isn’t going to work for much longer. The crowds are denser here, people gathering to talk and share news of the morning and split food between them, and the gaps between the tents get bigger and bigger as they approach the very heart of the camp. They’re running out of places to hide.

And then it happens: they’re spotted. 

From the minute Dave hears the first shout of “stranger” he knows they’re doomed, and sees his realisation reflected in all his friend’s eyes.

“Get to the tent!” Rose shouts as the first of the bounty hunters start to turn towards them, weapons already drawn impressively fast, and none of them stop to question her. In formation, they race through gaps in tents and people, weaving and sprinting and dodging as they get closer and closer, until they’re at the side of that main tent, but almost entirely surrounded. Dave swings a few good blows at the nearest hunters, taking down a few, clearing a little path for him and Aradia to manage to stumble back further towards the tent, but there are too many and more approaching, and certainly too many already moving to block the entrance.

And then suddenly, through the crowd, Kanaya appears, sword wielded, cutting a path through it towards them. Dave’s lessons seem to have worked. Kanaya takes out enough hunters to let Dave and Aradia get the rest of the way to the tent, and Rose, still working with that dagger of hers that somehow manages to do too much damage for its size, stands between them and the hunters, keeping them back as Dave and Aradia try to fathom some way inside.

“Dave, Aradia!” Kanaya shouts as the four of them continue to do their best to fight back the continually growing crowds, “Just get in there, don’t wait for us, we’ll watch your backs!” Dave nods at her in thanks, before spinning back round towards the tent. There’s no time to get to the door and open it up, so he swings his sword loosely in his hand, spiralling the blade around for a few times before he slashes it at the tent, cutting sharply through the canvas. There’s a shout from behind him as Kanaya takes out an approaching hunter, and Dave takes the opportunity to duck into the tent through the hole he’s cut, Aradia scurrying in after him. And then, two steps into the tent, he stumbles to a complete halt, breath catching in his throat and his blood freezing in his veins.

There’s a demon in the tent. And it’s not Karkat.

Unnaturally tall, the demon stretches up, long and lanky, in front of Dave with his back to them, long horns spiralling upwards towards the sloped ceiling and his arms hanging down at his side limply, dressed in the uniform of a bounty hunter but without their usual helmets or hoods to cover his face. And worse are the bodies strewn across the floor: bounty hunters, limbs and heads at awful angles, some of them still breathing shallowly with gasps of pain.

“About time you got here, motherfuckers,” a horrible voice hisses out of the demon without him even turning to face them, “He promised me you would.”

“He?” Dave asks, trying to bite back the mixture of fear and disappointment at not finding Karkat here.

The demon turns then to face them, and Dave hears Aradia stifle a sharp gasp. The demon’s face is puckered with long scars, and smeared with messy war paint, teeth sticking out of his mouth at odd angles, a horrifying picture of terror and pain all mixed into one. He looks them up and down for a long, silent moment, in which the outer sounds of battle remind Dave suddenly that there is more going on right now than what is happening just in this tent, and then he nods at them and turns to limp slowly towards the tent's furthest end, beckoning them to follow him with one huge hand.

Dave glances over at Aradia, and finds her staring after the demon with keen eyes. She turns finally to meet his eye, and nods silently, before carefully following after him. 

By the time they meet the demon at the end of the tent, he’s crouching down, folding his impossible height down into the tight space, and reaching for a sheet that hangs strangely across one corner of the tent as if obscuring something.

“You better be ready to sort this mess out,” the demon growls, “We’ve been through enough shit.” And then he tears down the sheet with his claws and Dave feels time shudder to a halt for a moment.

Crouched in the very corner of the tent, back pressed up against the dirty canvas and half concealed in the shadows there, is Karkat. The demon’s been with the bounty hunters for no more than two days, but compared to how he was when Dave last saw him, he looks awful. Scratches mar his face, his eyes sunken in above dark circles, and he’s bound in place by heavy shackles around his wrists and legs, curled in on himself and staring up at Dave in fear.

Time suddenly seems to start moving again, and Dave lurches forwards, mouth filling up with saliva at the sudden tsunami of adrenaline filling up every pore of his body, and he feels his legs wobble slightly.

“Is that-” he hears Aradia blurt out.

“Karkat!” He gasps, and then he’s falling down to his knees, reaching out with trembling hands towards him. Karkat flinches backwards, eyes blown wide, and Dave lets out a shaky breath, so confused as to how the demon he knew could so quickly have been changed this way.

“We need keys for the shackles,” Aradia says, but Dave just shakes his head and reaches silently out towards her, moving to take a pin from her hair when she nods, and then he’s working at the locks. “How can you do that?” She asks when the first lock springs open.

“Lock-picking comes in handy when-” Dave starts, but is interrupted by a sudden roar as two people break in through the door to the tent suddenly. Dave swallows through panic, knowing some line of their defence outside must have broken, and not allowing himself to wonder what that might mean for Rose and Kanaya. Neither he or Aradia have time to even get to their feet though, before the huge demon beside them throws out a hand and both bounty hunters crumple down onto their knees, and then patiently put their hands behind their heads.

“Well,” Aradia says quietly, “That’s helpful.”

The demon grunts, and then gestures back towards Karkat’s locks, and Dave hurriedly gets back to work. He’s almost gotten all of them free when he has to gently reach out to move one of Karkat’s legs to get to the last of his ankle shackles. For a second the demon freezes, and then he moves slowly, his eyes locking onto Dave’s and staring him down the entire time.

“Hey, it’s cool, I’ve got you,” Dave mutters as he works the last one free. The second the lock opens with a loud click, Karkat starts to crawl forwards, legs and arms shaking very slightly, and almost collapses down to the ground.

“Gamzee,” Karkat breathes out shakily, “Gamzee get us out of here.” Dave’s almost confused until the huge demon spins around to face the tent door and nods, striding forwards.

“Follow me, motherfucker,” he calls to Dave before he plunges out of the door. There’s an ear-splitting scream, and all three of them flinch where they’re still huddled on the floor.

“Dave,” Karkat mutters weakly, reaching out with both hands to grasp the sleeves of Dave’s shirt as Dave tries to lift both of them up from the floor. The demon’s head lolls sideways for a second, barely strong enough for his own neck muscles to hold up, and Dave instantly slips one strong arm around Karkat’s waist to hold him up.

“Ssh, I got you,” he mutters again, “Let’s get out of here, okay?”

Karkat nods weakly and desperately, one hand still clutching at Dave’s shirt, and the three of them stumble out of the tent’s door, to find Gamzee standing amongst a crowd of bounty hunters, all now standing eerily still.

“I can’t hold them for long,” Gamzee grunts, “There’s too many of them. Gotta get out of here.”

Only then does Dave think to be just a little wary of the other demon, watching as Gamzee manages to use just his mind to hold every bounty hunter in the area completely still. He glances from the demon to the crowd, and finally spots his friends, miraculously okay asides from a few superficial inuries. Kanaya and Rose are frozen side by side amidst a circle of hunters, Kanaya with a sword half raised, ready to stab downwards at a nearby hunter, and Rose with both hands and her dagger up to protect her face from an incoming attack.

“Free my friends,” Dave says firmly, pointing them out, “Now.”

Gamzee eyes carefully, but then just shrugs, and Dave watches as both Rose and Kanaya stumble out of their frozen state and look at each other curiously. After a second, they both turn to look at the rest of them, and Dave smiles exhaustedly at Rose.

“Oh thank god!” He hears her breathe out, and then she’s rushing towards them. “You got him!” She calls, “Oh thank god. Hey Karkat.” Karkat blinks tiredly up at her in silence, and Rose’s smile drops just a little. “Okay, we’ve got to get him back, now,” she says, that old healer's instinct of hers kicking in again, visible in her eyes as she surveys Karkat.

“Wait,” Kanaya says, and then strides closer to Gamzee. “Who are you?” She asks, “And how are you doing this?” She sweeps a hand around at the frozen crowd, and Gamzee grins an awful, sharp grin.

“Gamzee Makara,” he introduces himself, sweeping down into a messy imitation of a bow, long limbs tangling themselves, “I've been watching your little friend here for you.”

“You’ve been here this whole time?” Dave asks, and Gamzee nods.

“Easily disguised apart from the horns,” he explains, “And what people see can easily be wiped from their motherfucking minds again if necessary. Got myself made as little bro here’s bodyguard.”

“And you didn’t get him out?” Dave snaps.

“Sometimes there’s benefit in staying exactly where you are,” Gamzee drawls, as if that means anything.

“You expect us to trust you?” Rose asks, “When you’re a...a puppeteer?” She spits the word out like it’s poison, and though Dave’s never heard it before, from everyone else’s faces he can guess it’s not something good. “You’re one of the darkest creatures on earth, you’ve been keeping our friend trapped here for two days, and now you expect us to thank you just for whatever this sick charade is?”

Gamzee leers forwards then, eyes squinting until they’re almost slit-like, and snarls at Rose. “DON’T you lecture ME on the nature of DARKNESS!” He snarls, “When you, sister, have committed plenty of crimes for your own benefit.” Rose flinches backwards, and Gamzee smirks satisfactorily before turning on Kanaya and Aradia. “And a vampire and a necromancer, dark blood magicks there,” he hisses, and then his gaze turns on Dave, and his mouth twitches upwards into a terrifying grin, “And you, motherfucker, are the darkest of them all. So don’t YOU lecture ME about the darkness.” 

Gamzee snarls again, and then looks around the frozen bounty hunters, which Dave now notices in a sickening realisation are starting to twitch and move ever so slightly. Gamzee’s powers are slipping. The demon's face strains as he refreezes them, and then trunks towards them again.

“Gamzee, we are sorry,” Kanaya offers, “But you can understand our concern to find you here with-”

“Yes, yes,” Gamzee drawls, “I motherfucking know. But there ain’t no time for arguments amongst ourselves now, you hear me? War is coming and we gotta be together to fight it. Ain’t no worse darkness than the darkness still to come.” He glares darkly at the nearest frozen hunter, and then glances towards the nearest edge of the camp. “You’d best get yourselves going. Karkat bro here needs help and I reckon you’re better at that than I am.”

“And you?” Kanaya asks, “Where are you off to now?”

Gamzee shrugs in a huge, lolloping motion that throws his whole body off balance for a second. “Things to do,” he grumbles.

“And what about the war?” Kanaya asks.

“When there’s war,” Gamzee says, tongue slipping out of his mouth for a second, snakelike, “I’ll be there. You can motherfucking count on that.” And then he turns and starts to stumble away. “I can hold them for another few minutes,” he calls over his shoulder as he lurches off, “Get yourselves gone.” And then he ducks behind a tent and is gone.

“Well that was weird,” Rose says quietly. 

Dave’s about to reply when he feels Karkat slip ever so slightly in his grip, and he suddenly notices the demon’s weird quietness. “Gotta get Karkat back,” he says, panicked, and sees Rose turn her eyes on the demon again, and finds concern in her gaze.

“Yeah, okay,” she says with a small nod, and then reaches out to help Dave take some of Karkat’s weight as the group begin to stubble back down the hill.

They’re barely into the cover of the trees when Dave suddenly hears a wave of noise reach them as the entire camp comes back to life. None of them say a word, but all of them pick up their pace. Even Karkat, still eerily silent, his eyes barely even open, starts to stumble along a little faster. Halfway, they meet Jade, lurking in the trees, and her eyes light up at the sight of the group, now with its extra member. She swaps places with Rose, doing a much better job at holding Karkat up, and though Dave finds her pace harder to keep up with, they start making better time. Still, it’s a long and hard walk back to the house, and Karkat is barely conscious by the time they get back there, his weight getting heavier and heavier in Dave and Jade’s arms as he barely holds himself up between their shoulders. The sight of the familiar clearing finally appearing in the distance brings a jolt of relief to Dave, and as they limp their way towards the house he finally, finally allows himself to dwell in the fact that they have in fact saved Karkat, and that, starting now, nothing is going to stop him from protecting the little demon ever again.

“Dave,” Aradia says just as they’re reaching the edge of the meadow, “What did Gamzee mean about you being the darkest of us all?”

Dave keeps a tight grip on Karkat, and keeps walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo i wrote literally all of this today in like two hours... idek man this fic has taken over my brain. anyway uhhh...im excited to hear what you guys are thinking about this chapter, im really hoping youre going to like it because ive been excited to write this chapter for a while (especially to introduce those new characters). also i think this chapter marks us being about halfway through this fic so woohoooo!! we're getting through this quick but literally every chapter i have planned from now on is so exciting and im ready to write this thing. i really hope you guys will stick around and enjoy where i take this because umm...shit's about to go off the rails. anyway, thanks for reading as always <3 - C


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: there's a description in this chapter of an idea very similar to conversion therapy so pls be careful with that.  
> also: injury, hunger/starvation, general childhood trauma, mild mentions of torture

They’re just stepping through the threshold into the house when Karkat’s legs suddenly buckle under him. Dave manages to keep a grip on the demon, slowing Karkat’s descent down to the floor so that he hits it with less force, and he gently rolls the demon over onto his side on the carpet, quickly checking his breathing as he does so. Rose is fast to drop down to her knees beside Karkat, running through all the vital checks she knows so well. Dave watches with his heart in his throat, hands itching to reach out and help but feeling so totally and completely useless as he stares at Karkat there.

“I think he’s just completely out of energy,” Rose says after a few moments, and Dave feels just a little relief at that, “Doesn’t look like he’s slept or eaten since we last saw him. We should get him upstairs and into a bed, and then I can assess him properly.”

Without a word, Jade crouches down too, and slides her arms around Karkat carefully, before lifting him up as if he weighs absolutely nothing to her. She turns to Kanaya with a small nod, and without a word the vampire turns and leads the group up the stairs and towards another of the empty bedrooms. Dave follows behind, trying to ignore the weird angle Karkat’s head lolls backward at as he’s carried away, and swallows through a wave of fear.

“Hey,” Aradia says gently, and Dave jumps, having not quite realised how close to his shoulder she is. “He’ll be okay,” she tells Dave, “Rose seems confident.”

“Rose is always confident,” Dave points out, and Aradia just shrugs.

“You know her better than me,” she says, but stays silent afterwards as they follow the others upwards into the bedroom next to Dave’s, and soon they’re too busy pulling back blankets and readying the bed for any further discussion.

Once Karkat’s settled onto the bed, everyone pauses. There’s an awful few moments of silence that drag out too uncomfortably long, everyone just staring down at the demon as he lays there. Dave focuses on the thankfully steady rising and falling of Karkat’s chest rather than the eyes that are currently fixed on him.

“Alright,” Kanaya says after a moment, “Rose and Dave are the healers here, let’s let them work. I’ll make some food for us. Christ knows we all need it.” Dave looks over at her to find Kanaya’s eyes tracing him keenly, and smiles at her in thanks, relieved once again for how effortlessly Kanaya can understand and take control of a situation. She smiles back with a small nod, and then steps backwards out of the room, one hand on Aradia’s shoulder to pull the younger girl ut with her.

“Jade,” Rose calls just before the werewolf can leave the room, “Get Kanaya to send up some plain food for Karkat when he wakes, please.”

“Sure thing!” Jade says with a small nod, and then turns and practically dashes out of the room, the sound of her thundering down the stairs after the others shaking through the house for a long few moments afterwards.

“Right,” Rose says with a nod once they’re gone, “Let me go and get some things from my room. See if you can spot any injuries on him while I’m gone.” And then, with a swirl of her cloak, Rose is gone from the room.

Left alone in the uncomfortable silence of the room, Dave cautiously approaches Karkat’s bedside, and leans down over the unconscious demon. “Hey, Kat,” he says quietly, reaching out to shift back the corner of a blanket that’s fallen halfway over Karkat’s body. When there’s no sign of Karkat waking at the sound and movement, he pulls the blanket back to the end of the bed, and then leans in to assess him.

Karkat’s injuries aren’t hard to find. Dave only has to push back his sleeves and trouser legs a few inches to find harsh, irritated patches around his wrists and ankles where his shackles have worn away at the skin. There are further injuries too: superficial scratches up and down his arms and across his face, nothing dangerous but enough to cause some threat of infection. Dave’s gently moving aside clothing from a wound across Karkat’s chest when the demon stirs slightly under his touch. He moves his hands back for a moment as Karkat blearily forces his eyes open, and blinks at Dave.

“Hello sleeping beauty,” Dave says, and Karkat frowns at him with a pathetically weak snarl.

“Where am I?” Karkat grumbles, making an attempt at sitting up.

“Hey, hey, you lay back down!” Dave insists and Karkat frowns at him again as he reluctantly lays back down. “We’re in a safe house,” Dave tells him, “I’ll explain later, just let me and Rose patch you up first, okay?”

Karkat mumbles something entirely inaudible, but settles back against the pillows behind him just as Rose walks into the room.

“Oh hello Karkat,” she says, formal as ever, “You look...awful.”

“Nice to see you again too, Rose,” Karkat replies, but there’s a faint glimmer of fondness in his eyes as he looks at the two of them. “Knew you’d find me,” he says softly, and Rose smiles.

“Dave was insistent we did,” she says, and then she crouches down to start working on the worst of Karkat’s wounds without another word. As she does so, Karkat glances over at Dave slowly, an expression on his face that Dave can’t quite read. Dave puts it down to Karkat’s exhausted state, and just shrugs it off to start helping Rose.

“These wounds aren’t too bad,” she says after a moment, reaching for one of her healing balms and pouring it onto a rag before beginning to clean the wound gently. Karkat hisses very slightly, but lets her continue. “The shackle wounds are obvious, and easy to deal with,” Rose adds, “But where did these smaller ones come from?”

Karkat freezes ever so slightly, and then lets out a deep sigh. “Bounty hunters don’t like people who aren’t like them,” he says after a moment, “But they do like taking that hatred out on people.”

The sudden wave of nausea and rage that Dave feels at that catches him off guard, nearly knocking him off his feet, and he makes a show of crouching down to dig through Rose’s bag of medicine supplies to hide both his face and his sudden unsteadiness. The thought of whatever those monsters could have done to Karkat twists his stomach into knots, and he’s surprised to find his usually perfectly steady hands now shaking as he searches for Rose’s famous antiseptic mixture. It’s been only two days, but he can’t contain the feeling of guilt at having left Karkat there that long. He crouches down there for a lot longer, and then passes the antiseptic up to Rose and watches silently as she continues to work. Rose eyes him carefully, seemingly confused by his silence, and then turns back to Karkat with a small shrug.

“Gamzee,” she says, “You know him?”

Karkat blinks wearily at her, and then sighs. “I don’t know him,” he says, “I never got to interact with higher demons like him. I don’t understand what he’s doing here, but a few hours after I got put into that fucking camp he was suddenly there, controlling them all so they wouldn’t even notice there was a demon in the middle of their ranks. He wanted to break me out but...I knew you guys were coming, and so I waited.”

“You...you let them do this to you so you could wait for us?” Dave asks, and is almost embarrassed by how shakily his voice comes out.

“I needed to know you guys were okay,” Karkat says, and then scoffs slightly, “You got into my head you stupid human.”

Dave grins through the awful emotions currently filling his mind. “What if...what if we’d never turned up?” He asks.

“That would never have happened,” Karkat says, “I...that whole time I was in there I could feel you in my head, like this deep void there. It didn’t feel like the sort of thing that could be left empty for too long.”

“Oh!” Rose says very loudly then, both Dave and Karkat turning to face her. “Oh, sorry, nothing, nothing,” she mutters before they can question it, “I mean, uh, Karkat’s wounds are done, you should, uh...check on them daily and um...yeah, that’s it, let me know if there’s any issues or…” And then she scoops up her bag and leaves, ducking out of the room with a nod to both of them, the door slamming shut too loudly behind her.

“So,” Karkat says eventually through the silence afterwards, “She didn’t get any less weird.”

Distracted entirely from Rose’s frankly alarming behaviour, Dave lets out a loud laugh, which soon starts to sound hysterical in his relief to have Karkat back and okay. “Oh shit man,” he says after a while, when he’s calmed himself down and caught his breath, “It’s good to have you back.”

Karkat grins weakly up at him. “It’s good to be back,” he says, and then roughly forces himself up into a vague sitting position, wincing the entire time as he moves each limb slowly. “Iron,” he grumbles, “Fucking iron shackles. They sure know how to take down a demon.”

Dave sighs softly, and then carefully sits down on the very edge of the bed, turning sideways to face Karkat. “I’m sorry it took so long,” he says softly, “I tried to get you out earlier but...we needed better planning according to Rose.”

“She’s right,” Karkat says with a nod, “You have got to stop going into things without a plan.”

“Are we just pretending you and Rose didn’t impulsively murder three men and steal their carriage?” Dave teases, and Karkat snorts softly.

“Yes well clearly the bar is lower for me, I’m literally a shamed demon,” he replies, and Dave smiles gently as the two of them laugh quietly amongst themselves.

They’re still laughing a moment later when the door opens up and Kanaya steps into the room carefully, Karkat instantly falling silent and looking over at her.

“Hi, Karkat, right?” She asks, stepping over to the side of the bed. There’s a plate in one of her hands and a mug in the other, and sets them both carefully down on the little bedside table as she heads over.

“Yeah,” he says, “Uh, you are?”

“Kanaya,” she says with a nod, “This is my house.”

“Oh, right,” Karkat says, “Uh, thanks for letting me stay here.”

Kanaya laughs softly. “It’s fine, that’s kind of what I do here,” she says, “I’m only dropping in to make sure you get some food in you anyway.”

“Well thank you,” Karkat says with a small nod. He takes the plate from the bedside table, carefully picking up a slice of buttered toast and taking a bite, and Dave sees a little of the colour flush back into the demon’s face as the first bite hits his empty stomach.

“Go careful,” Dave murmurs, “Remember you haven’t eaten in a while.”

“I will,” Karkat assures him with a faint grin, though even as he speaks he’s taking another ravenous bite, and reaching for the mug. Dave rolls his eyes fondly at him, watching the demon gain back some of his old charm as he livens up again. By the time Dave looks back up again, Kanaya has already left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Dave’s silent as he watches Karkat eat and sip at his tea, and for a long the time there’s a comfortable silence between the two of them, Karkat occasionally pausing just to smile up at him. By the time the bread’s gone and most of the tea’s been drunk, Karkat’s eyes are failing to stay open again, his body slumping.

“Ugh, tired,” he grumbles.

“That’s the exhaustion kicking in,” Dave tells him, “Plus several of Rose’s medicines contain sedatives. Let yourself sleep, you need it.”

The demon reaches out then, and grabs hold of Dave’s sleeve, tugging at it ever so gently with his claws. “Thank you, Dave,” he murmurs gently, “For saving me.”

“You’re welcome, “Dave tells him gently. The demon smiles again, weak and wearisome, and then his eyes finally slip shut and his head slumps backwards against the pillows. Dave reaches out to push the demon’s hair from his face, fingers snagging in matted tangles, and smile faintly back down at him. And though Karkat doesn’t wake up for the rest of that day, Dave sits by his bedside watching over him until the sun sets.

*****

Two days pass with little change. Karkat stays exhausted, sticking mostly to his bed, though Dave takes one particular moment when Karkat’s got a little more energy to show the demon around the house just briefly. Dave watches over him, taking the medicines Rose gives him and passing them on to Karkat, and cleaning his wounds for him, and in gaps reads with Aradia in the library and helps Kanaya with her sword training. Jade leaves to return to her pack, and Rose continues brewing medicines, adapting parts of Kanaya's kitchen for her uses. It’s shocking, he thinks, how easy it is for them all to fall into such a comfortable routine. Also nothing even barely extraordinary happens, despite three of his new housemates being a vampire, demon, and a necromancer. One moment, though, sticks out.

He’s in the kitchen with Kanaya, the two of them sharing the few details of the war they know between the two of them, when suddenly she pauses.

“Someone darkens our door,” she murmurs gently, and then gets up to her feet, “Excuse me a minute, Dave.”

Dave’s curious, though, and he gets up from his own seat, following a few paces behind Kanaya as she heads for the front door without anyone ever having knocked on it. She doesn’t try to stop him from following her, just continues onwards and begins to work the bolts back.

“You know who it is?” Dave asks as she unlocks the last one.

“Perhaps,” she says, and then pulls the door back towards them. “Ah yes,” she says as they both take in the sight of the woman standing there, “I do.” 

The woman there is tall, dressed in an outfit of bright teal and red that’s shocking against the grey skies of the miserable outdoor weather, and leaning against a long wooden cane, it’s handle carved into the head of a dragon, a ferocious beast with ruby eyes that glare at Dave as he stares back down at it. One gloved hand rests on top of the cane, and as Dave watches the taps one finger rhythmically against the top of it, eerily patient and expectant, far too comfortably at ease with her surroundings. She seems no stranger to the area, and from Kanaya's face, Dave can only guess they've met at least a few times before.

“Kanaya!” The woman exclaims, and Dave winces. Her voice is sharp and scratchy, like nails on a chalkboard, and when she speaks her teeth, unnaturally sharp, clack together just a little. She’s almost...reptilian.

“Terezi,” Kanaya replies, “What can I do for you?”

“Heard there was a little...fight,” Terezi says with a sharp grin, “You guys starting a war?” 

“No, the humans are,” Kanaya replies.

“I’d heard,” Terezi nods, “Surprised you’re getting yourself caught up in it.”

Kanaya eyes Trezi carefully for a moment, and then steps aside and gestures her in. “Let’s talk inside,” she says, “Too many enemy eyes in the woods right now.”

Terezi steps in, heels of her boots clicking loudly against the floor, and Dave looks up to find both Aradia and Rose watching curiously from the foot of the stairs.

“House meeting?” Kanaya suggests with a tired smile, and leads the way to the living room.

The five of them settle themselves into seats in the living room, Karkat nowhere in sight, and Kanaya nods for Terezi to begin to speak.

“I have a...proposition for you,” Terezi begins, and Kanaya narrows her eyes at her.

“War,” Terezi says, “We all know it’s coming. And I’d like... a part in it.”

“What good could there possibly be in it for you?” Kanaya asks.

“Ah Miss Fangs,” Terezi says with a grin, “You know I’ve always like the idea of the right vs wrong. And it seems that for once, you are in the right. So I’m offering you my help.”

“And what do you want in return?” Kanaya asks, "I thought you preferred to watch in from the sidelines.

“My scourge sister,” Terezi says, “I would like you to pardon her, and I feel this could be her...redemption. You know, I just can't help caring for her, after all this time she's still so dear to me.”

“Vriska?” Kanaya sneers through a mouthful of fangs, “I don’t think so.”

“She would be beneficial in this war, don’t you think?” Terezi asks, “She’s always had a way with violence.”

“I’m quite aware,” Kanaya nods, “But I refuse to ally with a woman as volatile as her. All manner of things could go wrong. They always do. Remember Tavros?”

“Or it could tip the scale in your favour,” Terezi says, “She does have control over the sea witches to the South side, after all.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Kanaya asks.

“You want the biggest army possible, right?” Terezi asks, “Well, you’re going to need some of the fighters from the South. And you know the sea witches control that region. And Vriska controls the sea witches.”

“Is this blackmail?” Kanaya asks, and Terezi grins again.

“No, no, Fangs,” Terezi says, “Just...a little persuasion.”

“Kanaya,” Rose says before Kanaya can say a word, “May I put in my two cents?”

“Go ahead,” Kanaya says with a slight nod.

“I know Terezi,” Rose admits, “And I think we need her help.” Dave reels back a little in shock, and hears Aradia let out an overly dramatised gasp beside him. By now, Dave thinks he should just train himself to expect that Rose will have some history with every strange person they meet.

“I was wondering if you’d admit to that,” Terezi says with an approving smile, “Always a surprise, Lalonde.”

“Thank you,” Rose says, a little sharply, and then turns to the others, “Terezi is another Seer. She has taught me a lot in the times I have seen her in travels. You could consider her a...mentor of sorts. I trust her, even in all her...ways.” 

“But you haven’t met Vriska, Kanaya grumbles, “And I do not wish to work with her.”

“Kanaya,” Dave jumps in, “We need help, as much as we can get. Even if we don’t always completely agree with the people we work with. There’s only room for two sides in this, us, and the King, no arguments between us.”

Kanaya regards him for a moment, her eyes careful and assessing. She seems confused for a moment, but then nods in agreement, seeming to meet some sort of conclusion.

“We’ll consider it,” she says, and Terezi smiles again, all sharp angles and shining teeth.

“Oh, good!” She declares, “I hoped you would!” She’s up on her feet then, apparently already done with her meeting, and spinning her cane in her hands for a moment before she produces a piece of paper from her pocket and drops it onto the coffee table. "A message from the wolf girl,” she says with a small nod, “She’s willing to help you. Get back to me.”

And then, as quickly as she had appeared, Terezi’s gone again. The silence she leaves behind is like nothing Dave's felt before. Kanaya seems to be battling some sort of personal war inside her head, eyes flickering from side to side as she sifts through thoughts, and Aradia's furrowed brow is enough to tell Dave of her confusion. Even he can't quite make sense of the exchange he'd just witnessed, the entire thing having happened far too quickly and strangely for his brain to work out.

“That’s how we do it,” Kanaya says after a long movement of them all staring at each other back and forth.

“What?” Dave asks. 

That’s how we could win this thing,” Kanaya says, “Gather allies, form an army. This region’s rich with magick, there’s enough people here who could help out.”

“But what then?” Rose asks, “No point forming an army if there’s no plan for how to use it.”

“John Egbert,” Kanaya says.

“Who?” Aradia asks.

“Heir to the throne of the next kingdom over, right?” Dave supplies, and Kanaya nods.

“Yes,” Kanaya nods, “He’s also a weather witch.”

“What?” Dave blurts out, “How?”

Kanaya shrugs. “It’s well hidden, unless you’ve got good inside knowledge,” she says, “It’s also well hidden that his family also hold some power in this kingdom too.”

“So?” Aradia asks.

“So if the King of this realm dies, there’s a deal that passes the throne into John’s hands, to spread his family’s power,” Kanaya says, “With a witch in power, we’d be safe. All we would need...is for the King to die.” Her tone is dark, but glimmers ever so slightly with hope.

Dave sees, as the group look around at each other, smiles spread on their faces. It’s not a strong plan, not by far, but it’s a start, and Dave feels, once again, hope for a future not quite so bleak. It’s going to take a long time, he knows that much, but surely, they’re on their way.

“We have to have Terezi’s help, then,” Rose says after a moment, “She’s got powerful knowledge. Kanaya you are going to have to make your peace with this Vriska she speaks of.”

Kanaya looks up, her eyes squinted, but then nods ever so slightly. “I will try my best,” she replies quietly, “But you will understand, once you meet her, that it is not so easy a feat to accomplish.”

Rose smiles, and then lets out a very soft laugh. “We have a plan,” she says with an incredulous shake of her head, “I can’t believe we have a plan.”

“It’s not quite a plan yet,” Kanaya says, “But yes, I think we might be on track.”

*****

Later, in the quiet aftermath of another high-spirited dinner, Dave realises it’s been a while since he’s seen Karkat, and excuses himself from the group to seek him out, heading towards his bedroom. He knocks gently at the door, cautious to not wake Karkat if he’s asleep, but hears a call of “come in” from inside and pushes it open, heading in.

Karkat’s sat on top of the covers of his bed, cross-legged, hunched over a book and reading in the light of a burning oil lamp.Dave recognises the cover as the old fairytales Aradia’s been reading recently, and smiles faintly at the idea that Aradia must have decided to lend it to Karkat at some point. He approaches slowly, and sits himself on the other end of the bed opposite the demon, grinning at him when karkat finally looks up and meets his eyes. There’s something weirdly intimate about the whole thing, Dave thinks, sitting there on karkat’s bed, the low light making them feel even closer together than they are and blotting out everything in the world around them. When Karkat smiles shyly at him, one crooked fang poking into his bottom lip, Dave thinks that the warmth of the moment could probably fuel a house fire for a month.

“Hey,” he says, “Didn’t catch you at dinner tonight.”

Karkat sets the book down with a small sigh, and looks up at Dave. “I’m just tired,” he says quietly, “The last few days have been weird.”

“I know,” Dave replies, “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I really tried to stop them from taking you.”

Karkat smiles then. “I know you did,” he says, “I don’t blame you.”

That’s enough to make Dave feel at least just a little relieved, and he’s content then to sit with Karkat in silence for a little while as the demon flicks through a few pages of his book quietly. It occurs to Dave, as they sit there, that he’s not had this before, this quiet, easy companionship. He and Rose get along, despite the strange start to their bond, and he’s easily growing close to both Kanaya and Aradia, but here, with Karkat, there’s something he doesn’t quite feel with the others, a strange but welcome comfort. He smiles to himself at this thought, and slowly shrugs his jacket off, casting it’s uncomfortably stiff material and settling himself into a better sitting position on the bed. It’s then that he hears Karkat’s book fall shut with a loud snapping sound.

“Dave,” Karkat says quietly, and Dave looks up, searching Karkat’s expression for some hint as to what he’s done wrong. When he tracks the direction of the demon’s gaze, his heart sinks.

“Shit,” Dave hisses as he realises what Karkat’s seen, and quickly turns his arm towards himself, tucking his hand against his stomach and hiding the mark he’s done so well at hiding these last few years.

“Dave,” Karkat says again, reaching his hands out unsurely, “Can I…”

His voice trails off, and when Dave finds nothing but curiosity in Karkat’s gaze he caves, and gently moves his arm towards Karkat. The demon is careful as he reaches out, wrapping short, clawed fingers around Dave’s arm and gently tilts it towards him, turning until Dave’s wrist is facing upwards. And there, in the lamplight, is the thing Dave tries his best to never look at, to never think about: the tattoo.

For a long moment, Karkat’s silent, using the pad of his thumb to trace the outline of the tattoo, the shape of the dog’s face, contorted into a vicious snarl, the crescent moon crowning behind it. Dave looks away, tries to memorise the pattern on the bedspread rather than staring at the horrible mark he already knows so well. The memory of the day he got it still burns in his mind, the searing pain of the needle against his skin, the black ink and blood mixing on dirty cobblestones beneath his feet, and somehow, through it all, the feeling of pride that finally he fit in somewhere. He swallows thickly at the thought of it now, and lets the feeling of Karkat’s hand still pressed against his arm bring him back into the present.

“You have a tattoo?” Karkat asks quietly,and Dave nods slowly. 

“Why...this? Why a scary wolf head?”Karkat asks, “It’s fucking terrifying.”

“It’s a dog,” Dave huffs, “And it wasn’t exactly my choice.”

“Then why -”

“I know that mark,” another voice says, and Dave almost jumps out of his skin at its suddenness.

“Jesus, Aradia,” he breathes, glazing over his shoulder to find her lurking by the half-open door, “How can you even see it from that far away? Actually, you know what, just,” he trails off and pats the space on the bed beside him. “Shut the door,” he adds.

Aradia bounds into the room, kicking the door shut behind her on her way, and all but leaps onto the bed, the mattress bouncing under her weight. Dave’s jostled by the sudden movement, and when he recovers he finds Aradia leaning over his tattoo .Her eyes on it along with Karkat’s feels a little too much for Dave, but he lets the two of them look over it for a moment longer before tugging his arms back towards his chest.

“Dave,” Aradia says quietly, and Dave feels his heart sink at her words, knowing exactly what comes next, “Dave, why do you bear the mark of the Black King’s Guard?”

Karkat startles slightly at her words; Dave sees him lean back from him ever so slightly, and his heart clenches in fear that Karkat’s entire perspective of him might be about to change. All there is to do, he supposes, is explain himself, and hope the others will understand. He simply reminds himself that Kanaya understood the little he explained to her, despite the parts he continues to keep hidden from her, and he hopes the others will feel the same.

“My older brother raised me,” Dave says, “He was one of the King’s highest ranking guardsmen, and from my earliest years he wanted me to be a part of the guard too. And then as I grew, he found out I had developed the magick from the other side of our family, Rose’s side, and he put me into...extra training.”

“Extra training?” Karkat asks cautiously.

“The King has what he calls…’removers’,” Dave explains, “People who are to take witchcraft out of the land, or that's what it is on paper. In reality, it's a plan to turn us witches against each other, to destory us from the inside. It's never worked too well but...well... I would spend half my days training as a knight and the other half being what they call 'reprogrammed'. Lesson after lesson on the dangers and terros that witchcraft pose. Lessons on the awful things that happened to those who practiced it, the years of pain and torture and execution, only to spend an eternity damned to hell. They terrified me out of ever even thinking magick use was the correct thing to do before I even knew the real powers I had, made me see it like I was cursed and they were doing their best for me. And it worked. I hated myself for a long time. And once they’d ‘fixed’ me...they made me do it to others.”

“What?” Aradia snaps, and Dave feels his eyes fill with tears at the disgust and fear in her voice. He’s going to lose them, he can tell. But he's in too deep. The secrets of he past, he reminds himself, never stay uncovered for long.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, “I didn’t mean to, but I...It was all I knew and -”

“Dave we don’t hate you,” Karkat says with a roll of his eyes, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “Just tell us.”

“They would bring me kids,” Dave says, swallowing back the nausea in his throat, “Just...they were just kids, and they’d have me tell them and show them what would happen if they gave in to the sin of witchcraft and if they didn’t listen, if they didn’t break….I’m sorry, I can’t. I don’t want to -”

“It’s okay,” Karkat says, “You don’t need to. Right?” He looks over at Aradia then, and Dave turns to her. He’s so surprised by the softness in her eyes that his eyes fill with tears once again.

“None of us can help the things others encode into us,” Aradia says after a moment, her voice low, “We all have our pasts, and the past cannot be changed. It would be wrong to judge anyone on something they have no power over.”

Her words leave Dave stunned into silence, and after a moment he gives up trying to think of something to say entirely. He just slumps in on himself ever so slightly and reaches for his jacket, carefully tugging it on and pulling it tight around himself.

“Thank you,” Dave says quietly, “But I need...I need a moment. I’ll see you both in the morning.” With that, he’s up on his feet, shaky and stumbling, and heading for the door. One of them says his name behind him, he barely registers who, and then he’s hurrying his way towards his own bedroom, and once the door is shut and locked safely behind him he falls down into the bed. Darkness consumes his mind, the swirling memories of the things he did now twisting themselves into a nightmare of horror, and the lump in his throat breaks suddenly, barely managing to get to his pillow in time to stifle his first, screaming sob into it. His shoulders shake as he writhes into the sheets, crying for the first time since he can remember over the things that have long haunted him, at the bloodshed and hurt his own hands have caused. By the time he passes out, late into the night, his pillow is soaked, his body aching with exhaustion, and yet, for once, he feels a determination he hasn’t in a long time. There is a reason that when this war happens, he is going to make sure they win.

*****

Dave wakes far too early the next morning, finding himself with a sore throat and stinging eyes in the deathly silent house. Bones aching, he drags himself out of bed and into new clothes, and then he disappears out into the hallway. The memory of the night before lingers in his mind, and though his friends have been assuring, he can’t help feeling as if something must have been twisted by the revelation. He would not be surprised one day to find disgust in their eyes upon looking at him. He was sure, when he first told Rose, that she would cast him out, and found it something short of a miracle that she didn’t. He could never expect so much from the others.

When he comes downstairs, though, he finds that once again the house isn’t quite as still as he’d expected it to be. Kanaya is, unsurprisingly, in the kitchen, humming to herself as she sweeps the tiled floor. Greensleeves this time, Dave notes as he recongises the song.

“Oh, Dave,” she says without turning around as he comes in, “good morning.”

“Uh, hi, Kan, I -”

“Oh, don’t you feel so awkward,” she tuts gently, and then turns to him with a careful smile. “Dave, I’m sorry, I know you didn’t tell me for a reason but Aradia -”

“She told you about the tattoo,” Dave sighs, dropping down into one of the seats at the table, “Look I understand if you don’t want me to -”

“Not another word of that nonsense,” Kanaya says, “You’re welcome here as long as you want to stay. Your past does not affect your future.”

“You sound like Aradia,” Dave says, and Kanaya laughs softly.

“Perhaps we are a little similar,” Kanaya admits, “But I don’t think you and I are so different either, Dave.”

“Oh yeah?” Dave asks curiously.

“Both of us just want a better future,” Kanaya says, “And that’s what matters more than anything.”

Dave nods. “You know what Kan,” he says, “I think you’re right.”

“I always am,” she says with a teasing smirk, “It’s a little magick of my own.” And then she passes over a mug of piping hot tea, and turns back to her sweeping, her humming resuming. For a long moment Dave relishes in the peace, sipping at the tea and tasting the faintest hint of honey stirred into it, and then Kanaya drags out the chair opposite him and sits down.

“So, our plan,” she says, “Gathering allies, forming our own army. What do you think?”

“You’re asking my opinion?” Dave asks, and gets a nod.

“You were a knight,” she says, “And one of the Black King’s Guard, after all. It might not the the best of pasts, but it gives you an advantage in the knowledge of warfare. So tell me, what do you think?”

“I think it’s the best we’ve got,” Dave says with a nod, “And magick against humanity...Maybe it’ll help us weight the odds a little more into our favour.”

Kanaya nods. “Then I guess that’s what we’ll do,” she says, “We’ve already got some allies, you’ve met Terezi already, and heard of some others. I reckon we’ve got a good army growing.”

“So what do we do right now?” Dave asks.

“For now,” Kanaya says, “We wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm making a spotify playlist for this fic and it has a very funky vibe.   
> also umm...i wrote some of the scenes from the last few chapters today, to give myself some idea of what things i need to be able to slot in and what sort of vibe i'm heading towards and...i feel like i should apologise in advance because i made myself cry writing them so just a warning, shit gets real in a few chapters time


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: vague mentions of hurting/killing people, future threat

“We wait,” Kanaya says. And they do. They wait for almost a month.

The comfortable, domestic routine grows even more familiar, the threat of war seeming to grow more and more distant with each day they spend in the house. Good company and good food, it would seem, provides a remedy for all.

******

“Dave, Dave, Dave!” Aradia calls, running down the hallway from the base of the stairs one morning just as he’s coming out of the kitchen, cup of tea in hand. She skids to a halt just in time, socked feet sliding on the wooden floor and her skirts gathered in tight, careful handfuls, narrowly avoiding crashing straight into him. “Dave!” She calls again.

“Hi,” he says with a soft laugh, “What’s up?”

“Come see,” she grins, eyes wide and excited, and then she’s off again, all but sprinting in the direction of the library.

“I think you’d better follow her,” Rose’s voice suddenly comes from behind Dave, and he jumps slightly, spinning around to glare at her, only to find his sister smirking down at him. He just shakes his head at her, and then hurries after his friend.

By the time he gets to the library door, Aradia has disappeared inside, and follows her in to find her gazing down at the absolute monstrosity she’s created in the centre of the room. The chairs are all pushed together in some sort of pattern that must make sense to her in some way, and there are old bedsheets and blankets stretched out over the top of it. As he enters, Aradia looks up from where she’s adjusting the corner of one sheet, trapping it carefully between two armchairs, and grins excitedly.

“Do you like it?” She asks.

“What...is it?”

Aradia’s eyes widen further, now in disbelief, and then she lets out a sharp laugh. “You never made a fort as a kid?” She asks.

“Aradia I spent my childhood in a boarding school, and then in a castle,” he reminds her, “The only forts I saw were real ones, and they weren’t exactly fun.”

“Oh,” Aradia murmurs, face softening for a moment, but then she simply drops down to her knees next to one sheet, folds it aside like a door, and crawls on inside. “Come on then!” She calls, and Dave can do nothing but follow.

Inside, it’s nicer than he’d expected. The chairs are pushed in close, and the sheet walls cling in against his body as he shuffles in backwards, but there’s a floor of more blankets and pillows, and an old oil lamp flickering away to itself in the centre. ‘Fire hazard’, Dave thinks to himself, but doesn’t voice it out loud.

“So, what’d you think?” She asks, and when he looks over her eyes are almost glowing in the lamplight, face expectant and excited. Not a single bone in his body holds the will to disappoint her.

“It’s great,” he says, and then carefully adds, “But...why?”

“Rose and Kanaya are always off doing boring stuff,” Aradia says.

“Planning for war,” Dave butts in, and she flaps a hand vaguely.

“Technicalities,” she huffs, “But anyway, there’s nothing we can do right now. Might as well have a bit of fun without them. And I thought Karkat might like it. Dens and nests are a demon thing, right?”

Dave shrugs. He really does know absolutely nothing about demons.

“Well he’ll like it,” she says, adamant, “All he ever does is sit in his bedroom and read. Boring.”

“You like reading,” Dave says.

“I like hanging out with friends more,” Aradia mutters, drawing her knees up close to his chest and curling in on herself as she speaks. Dave glances over at her again, and his heart tightens itself a little. She’s just a kid, he reminds himself, just like he is, just like Karkat is.

“I’ll try and get him out his room later,” he tells her, and Aradia looks up at him with the softest look he’s ever seen on her face, too open and exposed. Some old instinct in him tells him it’s weakness, and he shakes it out of his head before he slowly lays down on the pillows below him, and stares up at the flimsy ceiling.

*****

It turns out getting Karkat to leave his room isn’t as difficult as Dave had imagined, and getting him to get along with Aradia is even less difficult. The two of them instantly get along like a house on fire; Dave would almost be jealous, if they weren’t so entertaining to watch interact.

With Rose and Kanaya still putting most of their time into sending messages back and forth through their web to keep an eye on things, and spending the rest of their time away in either of the bedrooms doing god knows what, the three of them find themselves together in the library almost constantly. They pull random books from the shelves, finding the weirdest books and even weirder passages inside them and reading the aloud, Aradia taking to strolling back and forth in front of the fort, performing the most dramatic monologues Dave’s ever seen, one hand pressed to her chest as if she’s preaching a holy text. And when she's not reading, she’ll crouch in front of Karkat, often staring him down for uncomfortably long periods of time, and then begin throwing as many questions about demons as she can at him. Dave has to drag her away the first time she starts asking about demon biology. But Karkat takes it all like it’s nothing out of the ordinary, answering everything with a passion Dave’s not seen in him before, and soon he finds that for once he’s actually learning things about demons.

It’s been about two and a half weeks of it all when Dave wakes up in the fort for the first time, to find himself staring up at the ceiling again, this time with Aradia half flung across his chest and Karkat curled up into his side, face pressed into the space between his neck and his shoulder. His right arm’s going dead under Aradia’s weight, and Karkat’s breath is uncomfortably warm against his neck, but Dave’s not felt more content in a long time, and he closes his eyes again with a contented smile, listening to the sound of blackbirds waking up outside and starting the morning with their song.

*****  
Three weeks of everything being uncomfortably peaceful and quiet, and Dave wanders downstairs to the kitchen one morning, still half asleep and seeking out some of Kanaya’s handmade tea, to find her and Rose standing together in there, hands on each other’s arms and pressed close together, giggling amongst themselves. He pauses in the doorway, and rolls his eyes fondly to himself. The two are not good at hiding their relationship, as much as they think they are. Much of his and Aradia’s days are spent laughing at how completely unsubtle they are.

“Oh, Dave,” Rose says suddenly as she looks up and over Kanaya’s shoulder, and the vampire visibly startles, spinning around to face him.

“Good morning,” she says quickly, brushing her hands awkwardly down the front of her dress, “Uh, well, must feed the horses. I’ll see you later, Rose.” And then she’s gone, sweeping past Dave, her shoes clattering too heavily and quickly against the hallway floor as she all but rushes out of the house. Dave has to hold back a laugh as Rose flusters and turns away, pretending she’s organising the medicine bottles on the side that he knows for sure she’s already organised at least three times in the last twenty-four hours. He just sidles up beside her and pours himself a cup of tea from the teapot, silently watching her out of the corner of his eye as he does so.

“You know,” he says after a long moment, when Rose is still pointedly pretending he’s not there, “No one cares. You know it’s okay, right?”

“No idea what you’re talking about,” Rose says, turning away from him very deliberately, and he rolls his eyes tiredly.

“Rose, there is a literal demon in one of the bedrooms upstairs,” Dave points out, “And everyone’s fine with it. No one gives a shit if there’s a lesbian couple in the house too.”

Rose spins to face him there, and Dave’s startled by the red flush on her cheekbones and the anguish on her usually well-controlled face. “It’s not like that,” she says, “Kanaya and I, we’re not actually -”

“Oh my god Rose why the hell not?” Dave says with an incredulous laugh, “You two are head over heels for each other, it’s painfully obvious, why not do something about it? Seriously?”

“Right now there are more important things to think about,” Rose says with a shake of her head, “And...strong emotion it can hinder things. I wouldn’t want it getting in the way. Maybe afterwards…”

“Rose,” Dave says sternly, “People like us… we aren’t promised an ‘afterwards’ or a tomorrow. Take what you get when you’re given it. Look, I’ve seen what war does and it...It rips the soul out of things. Don’t let it take the soul out of you too.”

Rose leans her head to one side gently, and smiles ever so slightly, a sad upwards twitch of the corner of her mouth. “Maybe,” she says quietly, and Dave shakes his head fondly at her.

“Please,” he says, “You do so much for me and others. Do something for yourself for once.”

For a second, Dave thinks he sees tears in Rose’s eyes, but then she just dips her head slightly, and laughs every so faintly.

“Sometimes I forget how wise you are, Dave,” she tells him gently, “Thank you. I’ve got...somewhere to be.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dave says, “Go on.” Rose shoots a small grin at him, and then hurries past him out of the room, pulling her cardigan tighter around her as she goes.

“So!” Another voice declares then, and Aradia parades into the kitchen and hops up onto the kitchen side, kicking her legs against the cupboard underneath her. “You finally talked her into it, then.”

Dave looks over at her with a shake of his head. “Yeah, maybe,” he says, and Aradia grins back at him, shaking a strand of messy hair out of her face.

“About time,” she says, and then adds, “Make me a tea.”

Dave dips a finger into his own cup of tea and flicks a droplet at her, laughing as she squeals. “Make your own.”

*****

Things are peaceful, calm and easy. And then, one day, they get the message, and they aren’t anymore.

The message from Jade turns up one morning when they’re all sitting sleepily around the kitchen table, Karkat squashed between Aradia and Dave in another seat Kanaya had produced out of nowhere when the size of their group outgrew the kitchen’s four chairs. It’s a letter, folded hastily into a crumpled envelope and slipped under their door by some unseen person. Kanaya finds it, and sits herself back down, tearing into it quickly and scanning through the words at high speed, the others watching quietly as her posture stiffens and face sets into an expression of grim determination.

“How long have we got?” Rose asks after a long while, when no one has barely dared to even breathe.

“A week exactly,” Kanaya says quietly, “Jade thinks we should attack the day before the raid is to catch them off guard so...six days until we attack.”

The room goes awfully, awfully still. Rose draws in a sharp breath that echoes loudly around the room. Under the table, Karkat reaches out and grips at Dave’s knee, claws scratching through the material of his trousers.

“Is that enough time?” Aradia says finally.

“It’ll have to be,” Kanaya says.

And there it is. Six days. Six days left of normality, six days left until they either win or lose everything. Dave moves his own hand to cover Karkat’s where it rests on his knee and doesn’t let go.

“Rose,” Kanaya says, “We need to get some messages sent out. Now.”

*****

Their first visitors arrive that afternoon. Jade lets herself into the back door with a key Dave didn’t know she had, and brings with her a man that looks almost exactly like her, the same dark skin and bright smile and eerily over the top optimism.

“This is my older brother, Jake,” Jade introduces him, and the two are welcomed into the house to be greeted with warm food and tea and a bedroom for them to stay in. Dave doesn’t see them much for a while after that, the two of them too busy devising war plans, but the house feels a little brighter just in the knowledge that they’re there.

The next morning there’s a knock at the front door, three sharp raps against the wood with something heavy.

“Terezi,” Kanaya says, getting to her feet, “Good, maybe she’s got news.”

Dave and Karkat follow her out into the hallway, and linger back as she opens up the door, only to watch as the opening door reveals not just Terezi, but also the most terrifying woman Dave thinks he’s ever seen. She’s tall, far taller than any of the rest of them, long black hair hanging in ringlets down to her waist with a few sections of it twisted into tiny braids, dressed for all the world like the cliche of a pirate, and to top it all off, missing an eye and an arm. Dave instantly wants to know everything about her and run away from her all at once.

“Vriska Serket,” Kanaya hisses, and both Dave and Karkat instantly inch forwards a little in intrigue. This, it seems, is the mysterious Vriska they’ve heard so much about.

“Kanaya,” Vriska says with a nod, “Terezi said you would allow my help in the war.”

“I’m surprised you’re willing to offer it,” Kanaya retorts, “You’ve never been the most generous. Never cared much about anyone other than yourself, for that matter.”

“And I really am sorry about it,” Vriska says, sounding so sincere that Dave’s a little surprised.

Kanaya seems so too, her face instantly falling and circling through every expression possibly for the next ten seconds before she seems to snap out of it. “Why now?” She asks, “You’ve had years. Why now?”

“Recent events have made me realise my priorities were wrong,” Vriska says with a shrug, “I thought I was...helping. I thought pushing Tavros to work harder would help him. I thought it would help with all of you. I never meant to cause harm.”

“You almost killed half of us, put Tavros out of an action for a lifetime, and came close to revealing our secrets to the entire village,” Kanaya says, “You’re right, your priorities were wrong. So I’ll ask you again: why now? You just want to be able to say you were here for this war, get another title under your belt to label yourself as a hero?”

Vriska huffs sadly, and drags the toe of one of her boots along the floor, gaze cast downwards. “I ain’t no hero, Kanaya,” she says, “Never have been and I don’t reckon I’d wanna be. But I do wanna do one thing right in my lifetime, even if it’s the last thing I do.”

Kanaya’s quiet for a moment then, one hand playing with the long sleeve of the sweater she’s wearing that day, and then she sighs heavily. “Well then you’d better come in,” She says, “There’s hot tea in the kitchen.”

As the three of them pass by into the kitchen, door slamming shut behind them, Dave and Karkat turn to grin at each other, knowing better than almost anyone that in Kanaya’s words that’s practically a forgiveness.

*****

The next two days pass with no new arrivals. Jade and Jake send out messages to the rest of their pack, situating them in carefully planned positions around the war camp to report on any changes and prepare themselves for the fight, and spend afternoons in the kitchen with Kanaya preparing food rations for the rest of the group, while Rose stews medicines in the corner. Dave stumbles across Vriska and Terezi out in the garden space behind the house at one point, practicing a few fighting moves together, and when they spot him watching from the steps by the back door they drag him over to join them, putting him through his paces for a few hours until his joints are aching. It’s been a long time since he’s trained properly like that, and the adrenaline it leaves in his bloodstream keeps him awake late that night, staring at the full moon observing the house from above and Jade and Jake running in and out of the forest beyond. The next morning he passes a few tips on to Kanaya, and grins when he finds how much she’s improved in her sword fighting.

And then comes another day of arrivals.

It starts with the sea witches early in the morning just after breakfast. Dave’s the one to answer the door this time, Rose busy discussing something with Terezi in the living room and Kanaya off in the back garden with Vriska. He pulls it half open warily, looking out through the small gap, and finds two people standing there, dressed for all the world like they’re royalty. Bright, garish fabrics and countless jewellery decorates them, and somehow they look less human than Kanaya manages to, their faces pale but their eyes glowing with a watery light Dave’s never seen in anything natural before.

“Hi,” he says, “I’m Dave, Dave Strider. Can I help you?”

“Kanaya invited us,” the man of the two says, “Where is she?”

“Don’t be rude,” the woman chastises, smacking her partner on the arm lightly before turning to smile politely at Dave, “Sorry about him, he gets so grumpy when we travel. I’m Feferi, and this is Eridan.”

“Oh, the sea witches!” Dave blurts out, and then winces, “Sorry, sorry, just...Kanaya’s told me about you.”

“It’s no problem,” Feferi smiles, “She in?”

“She’s in the garden,” Dave says, “Come in, I’ll go get her.”

“Oh don’t you disturb her,” Feferi says, “We’ve been her time enough, I’m sure we can keep ourselves occupied for a while until she’s free.”

“You’ve stayed here before?” Dave asks as the two step inside and he closes the door behind them.

“It’s a good meeting place,” Eridan replies. His eyes are obviously searching Dave for something, and he flinches away from the witch’s gaze, feeling a little exposed underneath. “So, what are you then?” He asks after a moment.

“Witch,” Dave responds, feeling for sure he’s being tested here, “Healing magic, mostly. My sister’s a Seer too, though.”

Eridan regards this for a moment. “You don’t look like no witch,” he says.

“I’m a fighter, mostly,” Dave shrugs, “But I’ve got a bit of my bloodline’s magick in me.”

“Oh I know why you look familiar!” Feferi says then, “Rose must be your sister.”

“That’s right, ma’am,” he says.

“Oh don’t you ‘ma,am’ me,” Feferi laughs, “Makes me feel old.” And then her eyes lock onto something down the hallway and she lets out a loud squeal before hurrying off with a call of, “Jade! You’re here!” Dave stares back at Eridan as the man looks at him for a moment more, and then the man turns to follow his partner, and Dave lets out a heavy sigh of relief.

“Sea witches?” Aradia asks, appearing out of nowhere. Dave barely even reacts to her appearance; he’s used to her silently coming and going by now.

“Yeah,” he says quietly, “Not sure about them.”

Aradia shrugs. “All sea witches are a bit weird,” she says, “Comes with the business.”

“Oh, is it the same with necromancers too or are you just an oddball?” Dave teases, and she sticks her tongue out at him before racing off down the corridor towards the library, leaving Dave with nothing to do but follow her as ever.

*****

And later, the last two turn up. Dave, Aradia and Karkat are almost asleep in the fort in the library again, the world turning dark outside the windows, when the knock at the door comes, distant but loud enough to startle all three of them upright. So far, the library has still remained their own, aside from the occasional person coming in or out to grab a specific book or pass a message onto them, and the haven of it has been welcome, the house seeming to get busier and noisier with every passing moment. Dave’s sure they have to have run out of bedrooms by now. Still, when they hear the knock, they all get up curiously, and line up in the doorway of the library to peer around the corner and watch as the door gets opened up.

The two people that step silently into the house are hooded, one dressed in dark blue and the other in dark green, though their outfits almost entirely match in premise, tunic like and lace up down the front. Like the characters in the Robin Hood story Aradia has been reading. The house falls oddly silent just for a moment as the two step in, and then the shorter of the pair, the one in green, reaches up to flick back their hood, and Dave hears a ripple of murmuring spread throughout the group.

“Hey Nepeta,” Feferi says from the back of the group, and the woman grins back at Feferi with a small wave.

Nepeta is small, and lithe, and has an edge to her smile that tells Dave there’s something slightly more sinister underneath. But she accepts the war hug that’s offered to her by Feferi with matching enthusiasm, and weaves carefully through the crowd to hang up her coat on the rack, grinning at the three of them in the library doorway as she passes. She’s almost cat-like, Dave decides as he watches the way she moves, so at ease with her surroundings.

Her companion, though, is the complete opposite. When his hood finally comes down, it’s to reveal a hard, square jawline that matches the heavy, muscular build of his body, and a mouthful of broken teeth and a face of scars. There’s a quiver of arrows and a bow strapped to his back, and a sword through his belt, and as he stares down the group there’s a few moments where Dave thinks he might be about to attack them all.

Then Nepeta just jumps in front of him and introduces him herself. “This is Equius,” she says, “We met a few months back. He’s an archer...and a pretty good alchemist.”

“Nepeta,” Equius says then, his voice lower than Dave could ever imagined, the sound of it almost shaking the walls of the house, “We don’t mention that.”

“He’s also a little baby who’s scared of his own power,” Nepeta adds teasingly, and a gentle laugh runs around the room.

“Well, you two must be freezing, being out there in this dark,” Kanaya says, “And hungry too. Let me get you settled in.” And when she heads for the kitchen, Nepeta bounds after her with an enthusiasm that could rival Jade’s and drags Equius along with her.

“Well, that’s all of us,” Aradia says quietly as the gathered crowd in the hallway starts to retreat.

“What?” Karkat asks.

“That’s our army,” Aradia says, “Heard Kan going through the numbers earlier.”

“It’s not enough,” Dave says, looking at the few retreating figures left in sight, “It’ll never be enough.”

Aradia shrugs. “It’s the best we’ve got,” she says, and then retreats back into the shadows of the library.

“Can we do this?” Karkat asks quietly as he and Dave are left standing there alone, “Is this even worth the risk?”

Dave turns towards him, an awful sense of dread settling itself into the pit of his stomach. “What other choice do we have?” He sighs.

*****

The next days pass far too quickly, spent dragging together any spare weapons that are left around and practicing fighting and preparing plans and last minute resources. In the chaos of it all, Dave barely sees Karkat and Aradia, with the demon off discussing marching orders with Jade and Aradia working out exactly the best way to use her powers with the other more powerful witches. Left alone to wander the house for a while, Dave finds himself out in the stables to the side of the house, and lets Maplehoof out of her stall for a while, leading her around the meadow around the house in pointless circles.

“Blue sky,” he says to her at one point, glancing up at the few fluffy clouds drifting their way overhead, “Didn’t get to see a lot of that when I was kid, you know.” The horse snorts, impassive and unaware. “Tomorrow might be the end of everything,” he says, “Might never get to see a blue sky again after that. It’s alright for you, you’re just a horse, you don’t know the difference between endings and beginnings. But I didn’t get a very good beginning, I’d like to get a good ending, if that’s all I ever ask for.” Maplehoof stamps a hoof, impatient at having stood still for too long, and he sighs, scratching her on the top of the head gently. “Everything might end tomorrow and here I am talking to a horse,” he sighs, “What has the world come to Maplehoof?” The horse, it would seem, has no answers for him.

And then they’re on their last evening before the planned day of the raid. The tension in the air is too heavy and thick, everyone so tense with nerves that people are tiptoeing around each other, too anxious that one wrong move could push somebody over the edge. Even Rose, usually calm and stoic in the face of a planned manoeuvre, is quiet and reserved, and at one point Dave turns a corner to find her and Kanaya hanging onto each other in a tight embrace in the living room doorway, Rose’s legs seemingly shaking under her. It’s unnerving, and he does his best to ignore the awful atmosphere until later that evening when the werewolf siblings get a fire going outside, and Aradia drags him from his bedroom to join the rest of the group outside in a circle around it.

“What is this?” He asks quietly as he finds himself sitting in between Karkat and Aradia, staring at the steadily growing flames as Jake feeds more logs into it.

“Witch tradition,” Aradia whispers back, “A time before the battle to allow everyone to get their thoughts and souls in order, and the army to become one.”

“Basically just a party to stop everyone thinking about tomorrow,” Karkat grumbles, but when he’s passed a mug of hot cocoa a moment later he takes it with a badly concealed smile and drowns his muttering in its warmth.

For a while there’s a comfortable quiet over the group, just the crackling of the fire and a few whispers here and there amongst people. At the edge of the group, Rose has her tarot cards out, shuffling absent-mindedly as Terezi watches on impassively and Kanaya leans against her side, and nearby Eridan and Feferi have their heads close, whispering fervently to each other. Dave watches on quietly for a while, watching the group interact, and then, in a rustle of moving clothing, Nepeta seats herself down beside Karkat. She’s dressed now in a long green cloak, trimmed with fur, and grins out at them from underneath the large hood.

“Hello,” she smiles, and Dave looks over at her in the firelight. Up close, it’s clear how young she is, close to Aradia’s age maybe, but there’s a faint light of wisdom in her eyes that he’s only ever seen in Rose.

“Hi,” Aradia says before Dave can reply.

“Aradia, right?” Nepeta grins, “The necromancer? That’s so cool.”

Aradia nods quickly, hair swinging wildly, “What do you...do?” She asks, and Nepeta laughs softly.

“I’m an empath,” she says,” Thoughts, feelings, emotions, the things that tie people together, that’s my world.”

“You just feel them or can you manipulate them too?” Dave asks. He’s heard from Rose of just how easy it is for empaths to become corrupt, becoming so dependent on manipulating the thoughts of those around them that they forget the truths of their own reality. Somehow, he can’t quite see Nepeta ever being like that.

“Manipulation is possible,” Nepeta shrugs, “I don’t go in on it much though. It seems wrong to mess with, unless absolutely necessary. It’s lucky I’m such a good fighter as well, isn’t it?” Her grin is almost as sharp as Terezi’s, strangely long canine teeth flashing in the firelight, and Dave can’t help smiling back.

Nepeta stares him down, just for a second, but enough for Dave to almost be able to feel her prodding at his own mind, and then the corner of her mouth twitches up in amusement every so slightly.

“What?” He asks her.

“Nothing, nothing, you’ve just got a lot going on in that head of yours,” Nepeta says with a small smirk, and then she’s up on her feet and strolling away. “Listen to your heart,” she adds as she strolls away, and all three of them turn to stare after her, a little confused.

“You witches are so weird,” Karkat grumbles once Nepeta’s crossed over to the other side of the circle, and Dave leans over to smack him on the arm with an amused shake of his head.

A while later, Jade produces a guitar from inside the house, and starts off a gentle riff, plucking at the strings absent-mindedly for a few moments. It’s barely a song, but the sound drifts, gentle, over the group, and everyone seems to brighten a little at the sound of it. Across the way, Dave watches Rose nudge Kanaya with an elbow and whisper something to her, and then pass it on to Jade. The werewolf grins, and adjusts the guitar, starting up a different, comfortingly familiar, tune. Kanaya gets nudged a few more times from those around her, and then, slowly, she starts to sing.

_“Are you going to Scarborough Fair?_  
_Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme_  
_Remember me to one who lives there_  
_She once was a true love of mine”_

Kanaya’s voice carries gently over the crowd, mixing into the crackling of the fire, and everyone falls silent to carefully listen. After a moment, though, Rose gently adds her own voice to the song, and she’s soon joined by a couple of others, quiet and not overly confident but joining in anyway.

_“Tell her to make me a cambric shirt_  
_Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme_  
_Without no seams nor needle work_  
_Then she'll be a true love of mine”_

Dave, familiar enough with the song from his childhood years, joins in then, quickly followed by Aradia, and soon the whole group is singing along as Jade starts to play a little louder, the group’s noise growing. Even Karkat grumbles along a little, though he makes a show of heavily sighing and rolling his eyes as he goes, and Dave laughs softly, leaning sideways to bump his shoulder against Karkat’s and grinning when the demon snarls.

When the song finally comes to an end, the group’s left chuckling and murmuring amongst themselves, and Dave feels a little of the tension hanging over them start to lift. With a small giggle, Aradia flops sideways, falling over into Dave’s lap, and rests her head down onto his knee. Karkat prods at her with one clawed finger for a second, and she bats him away each time, shaking her head and laughing until Karkat gives up and just slumps against Dave’s side with a happy little sigh. Dave looks between the two of them a few times, and smiles privately to himself. He loves them both, he realises. He’s never had friends like them and he loves them and his heart is heavy with the weight of it. He slips one arm around Karkat’s waist, tugging the demon in against his side more comfortably, and lets his own eyes fall shut for a moment, enjoying the warmth of the fire and the welcome company of his friends.

*****

It gets late eventually, and with the promise of what tomorrow holds lingering over them all, the group slowly starts to break apart and head off towards their own rooms. Aradia eventually lifts herself from Dave’s lap, rubbing at her eyes with a wide yawn, and clambers on up to her feet.

“Should sleep,” she says, “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

Dave nods, and shakes Karkat a little, rousing the half-asleep demon, and the two get up onto their feet as well. “Don’t think I’ll sleep,” Dave sighs, “But it’s worth a try.”

Aradia nods, gaze cast downwards at her shoes for a second, and then quickly stretches up on her feet and throws her arms around both Dave and Karkat, pulling them into a tight group hug.

“What is this?” Karkat grumbles, while Dave just lets out a small huff of surprise as his head settles down onto her shoulder.

“A hug, Karkat,” Aradia tells him.

“Yeah but why?” He groans.

“Nothing, I’m just...glad I met you guys,” Aradia says, squeezing them both together for a second more, and then stepping back. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she says with a gentle nod, before she turns to go, walking alone towards the back door and disappearing inside. Dave watches her go quietly, feeling, for some reason he can’t quite place, a deep unsettlement.

“Let’s go in,” Karkat says, bringing Dave’s attention suddenly to the fact that they’re now the only ones left outside in the glow of the dying fire’s embers. He just nods quietly, and lets himself be drawn inside.

The two of them are completely silent as they head inside, passing Kanaya handing blankets out to Feferi and Nepeta in the hallway, and wander upstairs towards the bedrooms. It’s only just as they’re about to part ways to their separate rooms that Karkat suddenly grabs at Dave’s arm.

“I want to talk to you,” Karkat says quietly, nodding towards his own bedroom door, “Will you…?”

Dave nods, and lets himself be led into Karkat’s bedroom, waiting as the demon lights the closest oil lamp before he’s pulled onto Karkat’s bed.

“Dave,” Karkat says softly, “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, or how it’s all going to end so I just thought...You told me about your past, you trusted me and so now this is me trusting you.”

“Karkat, what-”

“I want to tell you why they kicked me out of hell,” Karkat says, “I’ve never told anyone before and...I want at least one person to know if…”

“Don’t say that,” Dave says gently, and the demon just stares at him for a moment and then nods with a sigh.

“Lesser demons like me are usually just set to smaller hauntings and torments,” Karkat explains quietly, picking at the sleeves of his shirt as he speaks, “And then, if we can prove ourselves, we get trained under higher demons to become more important. If we’re lucky, they’ll even give us more energy to make us more powerful. But when I finally passed through everything and was supposed to be being trained up...they wanted me to be one of their executioners, demons who torment and then eventually kill the worst of humanity. I thought it was a worthy job but one day they sent me a practice human and she was just a woman, just a woman who’d made wrong decisions because she was just a single mother needing to get by in the world. And I couldn’t fucking do it. I couldn’t. And then I just started to question everything.”

“Karkat,” Dave says gently.

“I know, I know,” Karkat murmurs, “After a while, the higher demons got fed up with me questioning everything they did and I was sent back to my lower positions. But I didn’t want to be there anymore. I wanted to be doing something good. And so they kicked me out, figuring I’d get taken out by a demon slayer pretty soon, and I just...wandered. Until you found me.”

“Karkat,” Dave murmurs again, and then, unable to find any way to voice what he wants to, he just reaches out and tugs the demon towards him into a hug. It’s an awkward position with the both of them sitting opposite each other, but he tugs Karkat as closely to him as possible.

“So just...you’re not the only one that’s had to do bad things in the past,” Karkat murmurs into Dave’s shoulder, “And I understand it, okay?”

“Thank you,” Dave says quietly, and continues to hold the demon close, nothing left to say. “I think you’re a better person than me, Karkat,” he murmurs, “And don’t you ever let people tell you you’re evil.”

Karkat huffs softly against Dave’s shoulder, fidgeting slightly. “You’re not so bad yourself, Strider,” he replies.

For a long time then they’re silent, huddled together, and without a word the two of them somehow end up shuffling downwards into a vague lying down position, settling back against the pillows heaped up on Karkat’s bed.

“Will you stay here tonight?”Karkat whispers softly, “I don’t think I’ll sleep alone.”

“Me neither,” Dave replies, and then nods slowly, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll stay.”

And though the fear of what tomorrow may hold and the darkest memories of the thing they're both avoiding stir in his mind, Dave finds sleep comes to him a lot faster to him than he’d expected it to, one of Karkat’s arms draped gently around his waist and the demon’s breath warm and reassuring against his neck. Tomorrow, Dave decides as he holds Karkat close, he’s going to fight with everything he’s got to save the people he loves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy halloween my dudes!! (and a blessed samhain if you're celebrating!) things are kinda weird this year obviously but this is one of my favourite days of the year, so i wanted to have something to post today, especially for any of you who might be feeling down if you've got nothing to do today.  
> also, as you might have seen me mention on the previous chapter, this fic has a playlist now, so feel free to check it out and lemme know what you think: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4LethIoLGhMx5JKPG2zpI6
> 
> prepare yourselves for the next chapters, folks, we about to hit the real action of this fic. hope you enjoyed this one, and i'll see you again pretty soon for the next chapter!! - C <3


	13. Chapter 13

“Strider. Strider. Dave!”

The voice shakes Dave awake abruptly, and he sits upwards quickly, vision blurry from sleep, to find Karkat crouched on the end of the bed, watching him carefully with bright yellow eyes. Some part of his mind is clinging to a dream he can’t remember, but he shakes it off and slowly shoves aside the blankets.

“Morning,” he says after a few moments.

“Get your ass out of bed,” Karkat grumbles, his own voice rough with sleep, “Long day ahead.”

“So you couldn’t let me get five extra minutes of sleep?” Dave mutters, looking over and finding darkness beyond the room’s window, “Dude, it’s not even morning yet.”

“We attack at dawn, remember?” Karkat says, and suddenly everything clicks into place in Dave’s mind as he remembers fully what today is.

“Oh, shit,” he murmurs, running a hand through his tangled hair, “How long we got?”

“Two hours, maybe,” Karkat says with a shrug, before turning to hop off of the bed.

“Two hours, right, yeah, okay.” Two hours it is, then. Two hours until their lives are changed forever.

“I know,” Karkat says quietly from where he’s now standing halfway across the room, turning back to face Dave for a moment, and Dave wonders if he accidentally said that last part out loud, “But we’re gonna win this, Dave.”

“How can you be sure?” Dave asks quietly, and Karkat just shrugs slightly.

“We have to,” he says, “There’s no other choice.” For a moment his face softens, and then he rolls his eyes faintly at Dave. “Go get dressed, idiot,” the demon tells him, “I’ll see you in the kitchen in a bit, okay?”

Dave can’t help smiling just a little at him as he swings his legs around off of the bed and jumping up off of it. He shoves gently at Karkat’s shoulder as he passes the demon to head for the door. “See you in a bit,” he calls behind him as he leaves, the door gently swinging shut behind him before he can hear whatever Karkat mutters quietly.

Once he’s back alone in his room, Dave seeks out the outfit he'd preemptively set aside the day before, and dresses himself slowly in the old, dusty mirror propped against one wall. There’s a button up shirt, dark red and sewn with neat brown stitches in rows up the side, and thick, heavy duty trousers, along with his usual heavy boots. He pulls it all on slowly, buckling up a tight belt around the middle and setting his sword sheath in place, and then reaches for the last item: a coat gifted to him by Kanaya a few days ago. It’s an old tailcoat, military style and bright red, decorated with gold buttons though there’s a few missing, and with letters of an ancient language stitched into the sleeves. 

“It belonged to an old friend of mine,” Kanaya had said, a wistful smile on her face as she pulled it from a closet and brushed dust from the back of it, “There’s protective magick stitched into the seams of it. It’s yours now, okay?” And then she was distracted again, finding boots for Aradia, and Dave was left with a coat he felt he could never deserve.

As he carefully pulls the coat on now, Dave’s gentle with it, cautious not to tear the fabric, and does the buttons up slowly, working them through the buttonholes one by one. It’s a monotonous process, but ritualistic almost. With each one he feels the weird mix of fear and confidence grow inside of him, and when the coat’s finally done up he thinks maybe he’s just a little bit more ready for this than before. His sword is set nearby, and he grabs it, feeling the familiar weight of it and the cool metal of it slowly start to warm in his hand.

“Right,” he murmurs quietly to himself, stowing his sword away in its spot on his belt and gently pulling down the ends of the coat, “Let’s do this.” And with that he turns and strides out of his bedroom without a second thought or a single glance over his shoulder.

*****

The living room is bustling with life. Dave wanders towards the kitchen as he does every morning, but as he heads there he can hear the rush of noise spilling out of the living room where people are gathering, and sees Kanaya heading out of the room, an empty tea pot in her hands.

“Oh, good morning, Dave,” she says, stopping by the kitchen door. It’s not even dawn yet and already she looks exhausted, even in her finest fighting clothes in her favourite shade of jade green. As she ducks into the kitchen, Dave follows after her, and watches as she drops down into a seat at the table with a sigh. Eridan’s standing by the stove, watching another pot of tea boil. The other man is dressed well for the day too in a long violet coat over dark clothing, a longsword in his belt loop and a neat cravat around his neck. It’s absolutely too fancy an outfit for the battle they’re heading into, but Dave can almost appreciate the dramatics of it.

“Morning,” Dave says to him.

He’s not expecting an answer, but Eridan actually makes an attempt at a smile and says, “Mornin’,” with a small nod to him before turning back towards the stove. 

Dave pours himself tea from the pot just as Eridan leaves the room with another few cups of the stuff for people in the living room, and then he sits himself down at the table with Kanaya.

“Hey,” he says, “You alright?”

“Oh, you know,” she says with a slight sigh, “Just worried.”

“We all are,” he admits, “Today...isn’t going to be easy.” 

“No,” Kanaya says, “It isn’t.” She’s jittery with nerves, fingers tapping against the edge of the table and her knee bouncing an erratic rhythm, her heel striking the floor with each beat. Dave knows the signs well, the post-fight stress, the queasy mix of adrenaline and fear that battle brings. It reminds him of a worse time, but he can’t help but hope that this time he’ll be fighting on the best side, and the side that could win for good.

“Kanaya,” Dave tells her, “You’re not alone. Remember that.”

“I know, Dave,” she sighs softly, “But it feels.... It feels like I’ve been alone in this for a long, long time. Having everyone else here feels unbelievable. Like a terrible but wonderful dream.”

“It’s not a dream,” Dave tells her with a harsh sigh, “But you’re probably not the only one who wishes this was all just a twisted nightmare.”

“Probably not,” Kanaya replies quietly, and then her focus returns to tracing a pattern on the table with a fingernail, and Dave slumps backwards in his chair as he gulps down the last of his tea, the liquid still burning hot as it slips down his throat and into the empty pit of his churning stomach.

Someone else stomps into the kitchen then, and Dave turns around in his chair, not sure who to expect, and finds himself unable to think properly for a second Karkat’s standing there, dressed in all black and swaddled in a tight cloak, a pair of shining metal sickles strapped to his hips along a bright red belt. Dave’s never seen him looking quite so...dangerous. It’s a weird sight to deal with so early in the morning, and the strange stirring in his stomach at the sight is even harder to understand. Karkat, seeing him stare a little too long, just nsarls irritatedly at him as he shoves past him into the kitchen to steal himself a piece of bread from a plate sat on the side.

“Ah, the clothes fit you Karkat,” Kanaya says, sounding a little brighter now as she looks Karkat up and down.

“You made those for him?” Dave asks, and Kanaya turns to him with a slight smirk.

“Yes,” she replies, “Approve of them, David?”

“Shut up,” he grumbles at her, grabbing his empty teacup and getting up to his feet, stumbling ever so slightly. He heads over to the counter Karkat’s still standing at, grabbing at the teapot to give himself some sort of excuse for being there but making no move to pour tea from it, then bumps his hip gently against Karkat’s.

“What, Strider?” Karkat huffs, though it’s more amused than exasperated as usual.

“Oh, you know,” Dave says quietly, “Just you dressed like a warrior. ‘S unexpected is all.”

Karkat turns towards him and crosses his arms with a grin, catching his bottom lips between his fangs for a second. “Oh yeah?” He smirks, nodding down at Dave’s own outfit, “You can fucking talk.”

“Kan gave it to me,” Dave explains, and Karkat just shakes his head, amused.

“Looks good,” he tells him after a moment, “But it just all feels a little…”

“Performative?” Dave guesses, lowering his voice further, “Yeah, I know. But it makes Kanaya feel good, and distracts her a little. It’s the least we owe to her after everything.”

“I know, I know,” Karkat says with a huff, “We owe her a win really.”

“Then let’s give it to her,” Dave says with a shrug, glancing over his shoulder to find Kanaya now standing by the kitchen window, staring outside distantly. He pushes his still empty teacup towards the back of the counter before he heads back over towards the vampire.

“Didn’t actually want any fucking tea then?” Karkat laughs softly, and Dave just shoots a playful glare at him before joining Kanaya by the window. Karkat follows up behind him and he feels the demon leaning against his side ever so gently as the three of them gather against the glass.

“What are we looking for?” Dave asks after a moment, and Kanaya looks over as if she’s surprised to find the two of them there.

“Dawn,” Kanaya says quietly, “We need to leave at precisely the right time.”

“Right,” Dave nods, and then for a long time there’s a silence between the three, all of them staring out at the gradually lightening sky beyond the window.

It’s not long before they’re joined by others. Aradia slots herself in behind Dave and Karkat, leaning on them with her hands on their shoulders, and Rose leans herself up against Kanaya’s side with a faint smile, staring out through the glass in complete silence.

“Here we are, then,” Rose says after a long moment, “A new beginning.”

“Yes,” Kanaya says, “I think that’s what it is.”

The window remains their waiting spot for a long while. Karkat reaches eventually for the plate of bread on the side, passing out food amongst the five of them, and they eat in silence as they wait. And then, after what feels like hours have passed, Kanaya turns again to glance out of the window anxiously, and this time her face falls just a little, before setting into a grim mask of determination. “Dawn’s almost here,” she says quietly, “Time to leave.”

“I’ll gather everyone,” Rose tells her, and in one of the most gentle things Dave’s ever seen his sister do, she reaches up gently to squeeze Kanaya’s shoulder and press a soft kiss to the vampire’s cheek before she turns and disappears out into the hallway, presumably towards the living room. Aradia glances over at Dave and raises an eyebrow, but Dave’s too focused on watching Kanaya as she leans further forwards, bracing herself against the windowsill, and takes in a few sharp breaths.

“Kan,” Dave says gently, and the vampire almost jumps out of her skin, turning around to look at him with her eyes a little wide. “We’re gonna be okay,” Dave tells her, “We’ve been planning this for ages. You’re not gonna be alone out there.”

“I can’t lose Dave,” Kanaya says, “I can't let them all down.”

“You’ve already done more than enough for everyone here,” Dave reminds her, “You could never let anyone down, okay? Plus, I think I’ve trained you pretty good with that sword, huh?”

Kanaya smiles weakly, and gently taps one hand against her sword where it’s strapped to her hip. “Yeah,” she says with a nod, “Yeah, you’re right. We’re going to do this.”

“We sure are,” Aradia chimes in. Dave turns around to her and finds she’s already got her own blade drawn. “Time to rally the troops,” she says, “We’ve got a war to win.” And as the murmurs out in the corridor grow to a crescendo of anxious voices and heavy footfalls, Dave knows this is only just the beginning.

*****

“The bounty hunter camp has gone entirely,” Jade explains a while later as they’re traipsing through the woods, “It’s moved about a mile East from where it was before, to the meadow where the army camps were already setting up. The combined camps are bigger than the one you guys raided, but this still gives us an incredible advantage.”

“It does?” Dave asks.

“The meadow’s better terrain for fighting than that hill the hunters were on before,” Jade explains, “More entrance points to attack the camp from as well.”

“Ah, right,” Dave says with a nod, and then falls back a little, leaving Jade at the head of the party with Rose and Kanaya to instead wander along between Karkat and Aradia. At least, he thinks, Jade seems to have some sort of warfare plan. Her help has been and will be immeasurable to them.

They’re halfway there when the voice calls out from the trees. “Brothers, sisters, wait!” And everyone turns their heads in time to watch a huge, gangly finger make its way out of the trees, running at them.

“Gamzee?” Karkat asks, an eyebrow raised. For some reason, he doesn’t sound pleased. Dave almost worries he’s sounding a little...hostile.

“Told you I’d be here, motherfucker,” he grins, “Wouldn't miss this for the world.” And with a sharp, crooked grin and a few more of his weird words, the other demon’s drawn quickly into the group, pulled back to be relayed the war plan by Nepeta at the back of the marching group. The empath warrior barely bats an eyelid at the appearance of the sudden demon, and quickly takes him under her wing with quick words of advice and a seeming keen interest in what he has to share.

“Looks like you’re not our only demon then,” Dave says as he and Karkat continue to walk, stumbling a little over the unsteady terrain. 

“Hmm,” Karkat hums thoughtfully, “I guess not.”

“You don’t like that?” Dave guesses when he looks over and spots frown lines creasing the demon’s forehead.

“I don’t trust him,” Karkat murmurs, “What was he doing in that war camp in the first place? There’s something going on I...I just can’t quite tell what.”

Dave shrugs. “He’s a weird guy,” he agrees, “But we need as many allies as we can get. If he’s a good fighter, then that’s all that matters.”

“You’re the knight, you’d know best,” Karkat sighs, and with nothing else to say they’re silent for a while.

The silence is full of words that not a single person in the group will say. There’s fear and apprehension, the roar of adrenaline almost loud enough to hear in each person’s bloodstream, and underneath it all a low, buzzing excitement. The people here have been waiting a long time for this, Dave realises, longer than even he has been. All their lives have led to this moment, and some of them, he thinks with a crushing realisation, may end in this moment too. 

His stream of thoughts is thankfully cut off at that exact moment as Kanaya suddenly halts at the forefront of the group, and holds a hand up for them all to fall still. Creeping a few steps forwards, Dave finds they’re hidden in a thick line of shrubbery at the very edge of the forest, before a rolling stretch of meadow and fields. The army camp is spread across it, pitched tents and caravans sprawling out over the long grass. The dawn light’s barely high enough for Dave to see by, but he can see enough to tell the army is far bigger than he could ever have anticipated. Suddenly their own army seems to shrink, and Dave feels that shred of doubt in the pit of his stomach grow larger, tearing painfully through his organs. He joins Kanaya and Rose as they gather at the front of the group, drawn forwards by a faint gesture from Rose, and when he meets Kanaya’s eyes he nods gently at her. This is it.

“Okay everybody,” Kanaya says, her voice painstakingly calm and purposefully levelled, “This is it.” She falls silent, and there’s a long moment in which everyone stares expectantly at her.

“Kan,” Dave whispers, elbowing her gently, “Gotta make some sort of speech.”

“I do?” She murmurs back, and Dave hears a small ripple of amusement throughout the gathered group.

“Yeah,” Dave replies, “Sorta an army leader thing.”

“Right,” she says with a nod, and then clears her throat, her posture straightening. “Today,” she says, starting nervously but seeming to grow some sort of confidence as she speaks, “We go into a battle that is long overdue. There are not many of us, I know, but we have power far outweighing that of humanity. And, there is, of course, something else we have. We have years of the blood of our people on our enemy’s hands, and today we end the wait for our turn to take back control, the wait for our revenge. I am sure that one day, in some other time, there will be peace between our peoples. But for today, we have only this chance to prove our strengths, and take back the safety of our kind. And I know that here we have gathered the strongest, and most trustworthy army I could hope to find.” She pauses then for the appreciative calls and murmurs that ripple across the crowd, and then adds, “The sun rises soon. We attack in fifteen minutes. Prepare yourselves. And may your souls be safe today. I and the entirety of our kind will forever be in debt to everyone here today.” And then, with a nod, Kanaya turns away towards Rose, her head bowed. 

There’s a polite smattering of applause, noise subdued to prevent any attention being drawn to them where they hide in the woods, and then the group begins to split, people drawing away into their usual social groups to talk nervously and prepare themselves. Dave turns to find Aradia bouncing a little on her toes and stretching her arms, warming herself up for the battle and Karkat simply standing hunched in on himself, looking smaller than ever.

“Hey,” Dave says, throwing an arm casually around the demon’s shoulder, “Thought a ferocious beast like you would be excited for this fight.”

“Dave,” Karkat says, voice lowered, “You know as well as I do this won’t be as easy as they all choose to hope. How many will we lose today? How many will we keep losing until this is finally won?”

“I don’t know,” Dave replies quietly, “But there’s no other chance.”

“I know,” Karkat sighs, “I know.” He turns his eyes to Rose and Kanaya then, as they stand a little way off in the woods, hands gently entwined. “Dave, I want to bring these people happiness,” he says, “I’ve never felt that way about anyone before.”

Dave huffs softly in gentle amusement. “Welcome to being human, buddy,” he says, and finds himself pleased when he sees the demon smile, even with the frown lines still creased around his eyes.

“We’re not gonna win this thing,” Eridan sulks a little way away, Feferi lingering by his side.

She rolls her eyes, and shoves at his shoulder playfully. “Such a grumpy goldfish,” she tells him, “Can’t you be hopeful for once?”

“Hope ain’t really my thing,” he says, and Feferi pouts.

“Then just pretend,” she says, “If only for today.”

Eridan huffs, frowning further, but says nothing more. Dave watches the two of them curiously over Karkat’s shoulder for a moment, and then turns to the demon.

“What do you think of the sea witches?” He asks, “Strange, aren’t they?”

Karkat shrugs. “They’re pretty much recluses according to Kanaya,” he says, “People like that are always a little odd. They keep to themselves, their own traditions, their own ways of life, that sort of thing. Always seems weird to us outside of it.”

“You sure know a lot about humans,” Dave says, and Karkat scoffs.

“You aren’t so different from demons,” Karkat shrugs.

Dave’s about to say something else when the heavy weight of Aradia running up behind him and making a terrible attempt at jumping up onto his back distracts him. She slips off sideways and stumbles past him, before throwing her arms out sideways around both Dave and Karkat and pulling them in close. Karkat lets out an outraged snarl in surprise, but Dave just laughs softly and feels her head loll sideways onto his shoulder as she smiles up at him.

“It’s almost time,” she says.

“And you’re excited about that?” Dave asks.

“This has been a long time coming,” Aradia says with a shrug, “It will be nice to move onto a new stage of existence finally.”

Dave turns his head to look at her curiously. “What does that mean?” He asks.

“Nothing,” Aradia says with a quick shake of her head, “I just...it will be nice to think of something other than war after today.”

“You think we’ll win?” He asks.

Aradia shrugs. “Maybe,” she says, “Whatever happens, there’ll be a change. That will be nice.”

“Could be a bad change,” Karkat points out, still, trying and failing to squirm out of her grasp.

“Any change will be interesting enough,” Aradia says, and then she finally releases him and spins away from the both of them, ragged skirts twirling around her. 

“Everybody!” Kanaya calls then with a clap of her hands, and everyone instantly falls silent, turning around to face her. “A few more minutes,” she says, “Ready yourselves, and your magicks. And then we march.”

Aradia stares Kanaya down for a slight moment, and then turns to look at Dave and Karkat with an excited giggle. “You boys ready for a show?” She asks.

“Oh yeah?” Dave asks, raising an eyebrow, “Go on then, oh wise necromancer.”

“Wait,” Karkat says, “What can you even use your magick for?”

“I was hoping you’d ask,” Aradia smirks, and then spread her arms wide with a flourish. “Wherever there are humans, there is or has been death,” she explains, “And death always lingers. And can be used.” She crouches then, knees falling down into the mud underfoot, and presses her palms down into the ground.

For a moment Dave and Karkat are silent, both of them staring in interest as Aradia focuses her eyes keenly on the ground, and then suddenly her head tips backwards, gaze thrown skyward before her eyes roll all the way backwards into her skull. Dave lets out a hiss of surprise, but Karkat’s hand on his arm steadies him before he can stumble backwards. And then, from the ground around her it rises, a dense, thick black fog, like that Karkat was made of when Dave first found him. People step backwards, murmuring in admiration, and then the fog starts to shape itself, a hundred tiny figures in vague humanoid shapes weaving themself into a tight protective circle around her. When Aradia looks back up, her eyes are blank, white as snow, but she’s grinning again.

“The dead make fine friends,” she says quietly, and then she’s up on her feet again, the dead still circling around her, a constant, flickering mass. 

“Woah,” Dave says, and feels Karkat’s hand leave his arm as the demon steps forwards to take a closer look. He’s barely got time to miss the demon’s presence before he’s almost knocked over by a huge mass of fur shoving past him, a loud bark ringing through the forest. Dave stumbles back as a huge, white wolf, far larger than any natural wolf, bounds forwards, followed seconds later by another, this one a dark brown in colour. Dave grins. Jade and Jake. 

And then, now at the head of the group, the two wolves stop, and lift their heads upwards, baying at the sky in eerie howls that chill Dave to the bone. It’s the closest to a war trumpet they’ve got. And when Kanaya raises a hand skyward and lets out a shout of, “Now!” Dave stumbles forwards into war without a second thought. He only wishes, just briefly, as his feet first touch the battlefield, that he’d said a proper goodbye to Karkat and Aradia before they charged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not to repeat myself or anything but i greatly dislike this chapter. however i have writer's block coming on again and my head has not been in the right place for the last few days, so i'm hoping if i just get this chapter out of the way and get to the action and to scenes that i've already written in advance then i'll be able to bring back some of my enthusiasm. so sorry if this one's a bit underwhelming. i might come back and edit it at the end of all this actually, i'm planning to do that with a couple of chapters. anyway we're about to reach the real main event of this fic and i'm very excited, but also terrified to see what you guys are going to think of some of the decisions i've made surrounding these characters and their character arcs.   
> see you in a few days for the start of the final battle!! - C <3


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS for the chapter: this whole chapter is just war, violence, fighting, blood and death, and a couple of the chapters after this are going to be the same, so pls be careful with that <3

The moment they charge, chaos breaks loose. 

There are guards around the camp, previously unnoticed in the darkened shadows of the tents, and instantly they’re met by them with roars and clashes of metal, and the baying of similarly unexpected guard dogs. The fighting is instant. He’s not sure what else he was expecting, of course it was going to be, he knew this. And Dave’s ready for it - there are always guards in this sort of place, after all - and he meets their blades with his own, parrying blows easily and forcing them backwards, letting his adrenaline drive him. Karkat, he realises, is right by his side, swinging his two sickles back and forth in a strange rhythm, easily pushing back his foes. Dave does his best not to focus on the demon, aware Karkat can look after himself, and returns his full attention to the guards still coming at them. More people are heading their way now, bursting out of tents, still half asleep. The startled state of those who hadn’t been expecting this attack and are barely awake is an advantage for them, but Dave knows from the past how quick soldiers are to wake up and get into that battle mindset. The remainder of that training still lingers in his mind, and often wakes him at random hours from deep sleep with his heart racing and hand reaching for a sword that isn’t there. If these soldiers have been trained the same, and he’s almost certain they have been, then it won’t be long at all until the entire camp is awake and coming at them.

As Dave continues to fight, the old instinct makes him almost go into auto-pilot, each swing of his arms and blade more muscle memory than anything. A soldier clad in nothing but a simple tunic runs straight at him, and Dave drives his sword through his heart without a second thought before turning to face others. He tries to keep his eyes upwards, not wanting to see the blood pooling on the silver of his blade, and keeps every part of his momentum focused into his arms, pushing his energy into every moment. More soldiers are joining the ranks now, streaming out of their tents with shouts and yells that break through the previously quiet morning, the familiar sound that battle brings, and Dave recognises now, in the dawning light, the outfits they wear, insignias of the Black King’s ranks branded into the sleeves and breasts of their shirts. His next blow brings his blade down onto one man’s arm, directly across that mark, and the feeling of catharsis it brings him is staggering. He isn’t just fighting in a war, he realises as he fights back another soldier, he’s fighting now against his own past. His blade slashes through another of those familiar sleeves, blood instantly blooming out through the soft cotton, and Dave raises his sword again with a faint snarl to himself to finish the man for good, thanking an unknown deity for the fact these men have had no time to equip themselves in armour.

He’s distracted by a cry then, and turns to see Vriska stagger back ever so slightly, a fresh new gash in the laced up shirt she’s wearing. He’s reminded they also have no armour, and frowns slightly.

“You okay?” He shouts, hurrying a few steps over towards her to fight back the nearest enemy and give her time to recover.

“Fine!” She snarls, raising her cutlass and swinging at another incoming attacker, Terezi running up to join and fight by her side. The man there staggers back, and Dave turns away just as Vriska aims her blade at his neck. He does his best to ignore the strangled cry that results. He may be a good fighter, but he’s never enjoyed the mess of it all, especially after all of these years.

Several of Aradia’s dead flitter past him as he rushes back towards other soldiers, and he watches as they swoop towards one soldier and seem to diffuse into his brain. Seconds later he falls to the ground with a scream, hands clutching at his own ears, and keels forwards into the dirt. Aradia sprints right past him after the rest of her spirits before he can even voice his admiration to her.

The fighting continues like this for what feels like hours, but really can’t be that long, though Dave’s judging the time now only by how the sun is rising slowly over the treeline ahead. He cuts down each of the startled soldiers that approaches him, and finally the group manage to work their way further into the camp. Around him he often sees the others at work. Gamzee rushes past him at one point, throwing his hands around like he’s practicing some sort of martial art, every movement of his arms sending people around him into weird contortions, their own bodies fighting against them, at one point sending one soldier’s fist flying upwards to crack into his own jaw. And it would seem that he’s been entirely blind to just how strong Kanaya is, watching as she throws a fully grown man directly into the wall of a tent, sending the tent sagging inwards under his weight.

It doesn’t take Dave long, though, to realise Jade has been wrong. This terrain may be flatter, but it’s no easier than fighting on a hill would have been. All Dave’s ever fought on before are pre-planned battlefields. This is not that. The tents are hard to weave between, their guy lines threatening to trip him every time he misjudges a step, and there’s far too many places for people to hide or appear from. He almost thinks a proper war would have been preferable.

All of a sudden, though, there’s the blaring of a horn. Dave knows it well. The soldiers are being called back, forced into rank to make the chaos more organised. Their raid is now forming into war. As soldiers draw back, Dave hurries after them to continue fighting a few of them, but soon the soldiers are disappearing further into the camp, only the most basic guards left for them to battle.

“Leave them!” Kanaya calls, appearing suddenly from amongst the crowd, “Time to regroup! Quick!”

He follows her when she turns and scrambles back, and soon he’s heading towards where the others are quickly gathering into a group. A quick glance between the group shows him that they’re all still there, and he breathes out a heavy sigh of relief. Sure, a few of them are injured, bleeding and limping here and there, but everyone’s still alive. Dave staggers over to where Aradia’s standing, a few of the dead still lingering around her, and gives her a shaky smile.

“You alright?” He asks, and she nods quickly.

“Yeah, yeah,” she says, glancing back further into the meadow, “You found the King yet?”

“No,” Dave says, “But he’s got to be here somewhere. He’s always with his army. Gotta give him some credibility for that at least.”

“We’ll find him,” another voice says, and Dave grins slightly as Karkat lays a hand down heavily onto his shoulder. He’s glad to find the demon still there and seemingly completely uninjured.

“Cavalry incoming!” Rose calls suddenly, and Dave turns to watch as, distantly, from the very other edge of the meadow, a line of horses approaches.

“Fuck,” he breathes out, and when he finds the others looking around, all of them seemingly completely unsure of how to face this new wave, he takes a step forwards.

“Everyone into rows, now!” He calls, “We need some sort of formation. Strongest at the front!”

They scramble around, everyone pushing back and forth as they try to work out exactly where to place themselves, and Dave watches as the cavalry gets closer to them. They don’t have enough time.

“Dave,” Kanaya says then, suddenly at his side. Her eyes are desperate. “Lead us.”

“Kan, no, I-”

“Lead us,” she says again, “We need you, Dave. You know how their army works. Please. I can’t do this, I wasn’t made for this. You were.”

The thought of it settles a weight deep into Dave’s stomach. He’s never wanted to be a leader, especially not one in a war. It’s the furthest thing from what he’s been heading for. He’s been running from this for years, but here, now, it feels like he’s just back where he started. Except this time he’s on the right side. He smiles darkly to himself at the thought, and swings his sword casually.

“Alright!” He shouts then, and sees the way Kanaya all but melts in relief, “Alright! Those of you with magick that can cause physical damage, you’re up first, anyone else behind! NOW!”

Behind him, Aradia raises more of the dead again, and rushes past him towards the front of their lines, and he does nothing to stop her. Watching her slip away again and again into danger, he wants only to protect her, and everyone else, but she’s far powerful than he could ever hope to be, and as he watches her stand there beside Kanaya, amidst a sea of the dead, he just prays that the spirits will take care of her.

With his sword raised, he steps forwards ahead of them all, and faces the oncoming surge.

The cavalry is larger than he’d expected it to be, and despite the mess that is their battlefield, they navigate it with ease. Horses stream out across the meadow, weaving between tents and all but trampling some of them done under their hooves as they head towards them, their riders focused keenly on their target of the tiny little army. Dave doesn’t think he’s ever felt smaller.

The others shrink back a little, though still they hold rank, but Dave’s prepared for this. His entire life he’s been learning to fight. This is just the natural next step. Suddenly he thinks he knows what Aradia meant earlier about a new stage of existence, and the peace that thought brings him is enough to drive him forwards. If this is how they must fight, then this is how he will. The line of horses draw closer, their riders equipped with swords and bows, and Dave steadies his sword hand, straightening his posture and preparing himself. He’ll take them out and get to the King, or die trying.

As it turns out, though, their army isn't quite as small as he’d thought it to be. Before the horses can reach him there’s an explosion of barking, not the baying of the army’s bloodhounds, but the approaching of wolves, and soon Dave’s flanked on both sides by those giant wolves. Not just Jade and Jake, but more of them too, thirty at the least: their pack. Jade and Jake take their places on either side of him, pressing in close, teeth bared out at the approaching soldiers. He grins down at Jade as she turns her face upwards, huge white tail wagging excitedly as she pants at him.

“Ready?” Dave asks her with a faint grin, and the wolf lets out another bark before turning to face the oncoming stream of horses. “Good,” Dave says, raising his sword again, “Let’s do this.” And all hell breaks loose again.

The wolves race forward, baying and howling, and Dave races after them on foot, the shouts of his army behind him enough to tell him that the others have followed his lead. Without their own cavalry, they’re easily outmatched, but the wolves tear through the first line of horses with ease, their size and brute force enough to take down several of the huge creatures. Dave almost feels guilty, he’s seen enough deaths of innocent creatures for a lifetime, but when he catches sight of Feferi and Eridan, fighting side by side a while away, protecting each others’ backs, the truest form of love Dave thinks he’s ever seen in a long while, he knows there’s nothing he wouldn't let happen if it would save these people. He charges forwards past Jade and Jake as they tear down another horse, and cuts down a few of the riders that are struggling to rise from the floor. One horse beside him rears suddenly, throwing its rider to the ground, and in a sudden bid for some sort of advantage, Dave grabs a hold of the horse’s reins as it crashes back down onto all four hooves.

“Hey, hey,” he calls quickly, trying his best to hush the horse at it panics, throwing its head as he tries to hold it in place, “Chill, girl, I got you.” A second later, when the horse is a little calmer, he quickly heaves himself upwards into the saddle, and takes a proper hold of the reins, shortening them in one hand to gain the best control over the horse.

“That’s more like it,” he mutters to himself, steadying in his sword in his free hand, “Let’s do this.”

And with that he’s off and galloping across the meadow, reins in one hand and sword in the other, not in control of the horse as much as he’d like to be but still feeling just a little safer now he’s off of the ground. He circles the horse back around, heading back towards his own army, and finds them fighting at ease alongside the wolves and dodging blades and arrows from the cavalry. He finds Karkat crouched beside a horse, blood smeared on his face, and does his best not to think about whatever the demon’s been up to, just keeps himself ahead of his army to protect them. 

Up on the horse he hasn’t got the best chance at fighting, aside from occasionally reaching his sword down to take quick stabs at soldiers that stretch up at him, but he can protect his army and keep an eye on things, and that’s all he needs. For a long while he circles around them, keeping an eye on things and stopping fighters from getting to his own friends, and then he’s distracted suddenly by a cry from a while away. A glance backwards tells him that Rose and Kanaya, who he’s been keeping an eye on, are safe for now, and so he quickly urges the horse in the direction of the sound of struggle, and finds Nepeta huddled on the ground over someone else, soldiers encroaching on her with weapons drawn. He drives his sword downwards as he races past one of them, and sends the rest of them scattering sideways as he cuts a path through their ranks.

“Nepeta!” He calls, and the woman turns her head upwards, staring at him with wide, teary eyes as her hood falls backwards. As she moves, Dave gets a quick look at the person she’s hunched over: Equius. There’s an arrow straight through his chest, thick blood pooling around the entrance wound, and no sign of movement from him. 

As he canters past, Dave reaches down a hand, and Nepeta instinctively grabs hold of it, letting himself be pulled up onto the saddle behind him as the horse continues to race onwards, leaving behind the soldiers who killed Equius.

“I couldn't protect him,” she chokes after a moment, “I told him I would.” And Dave presses his eyes closed tightly at the first feeling of tears blooming there. There is no time for emotion in battle, he reminds himself firmly.

“It’s okay,” he tells her, and when she grabs hold of his hand he pulls her up into the saddle behind him. “We’ll get him back later,” he promises her as he deliberately turns the horse away so she can look no further, “We’ll get him and bury him, okay?”

She doesn’t say anything. Dave thinks maybe she doesn’t quite believe him, and he doesn’t blame her. He doesn’t believe himself either.

He’s barely gotten the horse a short while away from the scene when Nepeta suddenly throws herself sideways out of the saddle with a snarl. He shouts after her, but the woman disappears into the crowd at a sprint, and he watches for a second as she tears into the nearest soldier with the sharp blades attached to her knuckles and the dagger in her pocket. He almost smiles at the bloodshed. Almost.

Equius’ death leaves a sour taste in Dave’s mouth as he heads away from Nepeta again. He hadn’t known the guy much, had barely spoken to him in the few days they’d shared a house, but Nepeta’s care for him was clear, and the loss of even one of their members is a tragedy. They will not all be saved, this much Dave knows, it is the reality of war after all, but he thinks he would do anything to stop any more of them from losing their lives like that. The next swing of his blade is aggressively charged, and takes a man’s head right off. Dave barely feels a thing as he gallops past.

He keeps fighting. There’s nothing else to do, really, aside from fighting, but even if there was he doesn’t think he could stop. The anger at seeing his people hurt drives him forwards.

Around him, the camp falls further and further into disaster. Horses trample and crash into tents, bringing them down to the ground, crashing into people and falling over those trapped nearby, and as a few come down Dave watches as a lamp inside one of them suddenly sets it onto fire. The horse lurches underneath him, letting out a screaming whinny in panic at the sudden flames, and Dave quickly turns it around to race away from it, listening to the shouts of panic of those still trying to escape the flames. Half of his army seems missing now, and he finds himself unable to see almost any of them as he navigates the disaster. Fear builds in him, but he tries to ignore it. They’re fine. They have to be. They have to be. He reminds himself they can look after themselves, and ignores the spreading fire in favour of cantering towards the nearest group of soldiers and does his best to take them out, or at least break up the group a little.

That’s when he first sees them. Fighting their way through the soldiers is a small group of people he doesn’t recognise at all, their faces smeared with dirt and the blades in their hands small and dull. Dave hurries on past them, but is confused to find, just a moment later, more people he doesn’t recognise. When he finally spots Rose a while off, battling back at a few soldier’s surrounding her, he draws the horse to a stop and quickly takes out a few to get to her.

“Dave!” She calls upwards, face sagging in relief, “Oh thank god. Have you seen?” 

“Seen what?” He calls down from the saddle.

“The web!” She calls,” It worked! They heard, and they’re arriving. We’re not alone anymore!”

And that’s when it clicks in Dave’s mind. Word must have gotten out to whoever could hear in the surrounding area. They didn’t even have to rally for war, people have just decided to join anyway. The thought that anyone would risk their lives for them without even knowing them puts a little more determination into his heart.

“Then we need to win this thing!” He calls down to her, “Watch out for the fire!” And then he’s gone again, leading the horse back out further into the fight. 

He stops for just a moment, and that’s when Dave sees it. At the very back of everything, amidst trampled, burning tents, is a tight knit group of leftover cavalry. And at the very centre of it, a sleek black horse of impossible size, closely protected by those around it. Dave cannot see clearly the rider on that horse, but he doesn’t need to. He knows well enough exactly who he’s looking at. The Black King.

“There you are,” Dave mutters with a grin, tugging sharply at the bottom of his coat to straighten it, “Finally, there you are.” He’s been waiting for this for a long time.

A quick few glances around him show Dave that all on their side that he can see are safe and still fighting. With his decision solidified in his mind, Dave turns back towards the King, and gets his horse moving again. What he has to do is unquestionable. Take down the head, and the whole thing crumbles. He needs to get to the King.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh action here we go!! the real reason i started writing this fic in the first place was to write action it's just taken a while to get here. anyways ummm... all i can say is prepare yourselves, this is the happiest this fic gets for a while so ya know. i don't really have much to say about this chapter actually, it's kinda short, and the next few are probably going to be too as i really want to keep up the fast pace of it all. but yeh, thanks for reading, i wrote this in like two hours with a headache so if there's any typos that's why.  
> we hit over 1000 hits on this fic and im so happy with that, for a long fic like this im super happy to have such great readers (and to anyone who regularly comments or has left kudos here, hi ily). anyways have a good day guys - C <3


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: similar warnings as to the previous chapter, as well as a slight emetophobia warning, and graphic death

With the realisation of exactly what he needs to do fresh in his mind, Dave urges the horse forwards as fast as he can, sending soldiers scattering in his wake as neither he nor the horse bother to slow or steer around them. There is nothing in his way now that could ever stop him. And yet, as he sees Rose wave a hand at him from a distance, he slows the horse just a little with a resigned sigh.

“I’m going for the King!” He shouts down to her. “You can’t stop me!”

“I won’t!” She shouts back, running in his direction with her blade held high, “Stay safe!”

And with his sister’s approval, that’s all Dave needs. The horse leaps over a burning tent pole as he urges it back up to speed, and he’s approaching the distant King again, the movement of every fibre of his body seeming to pulse with energy as the horse races on, his eyes fixed only on the King ahead of him and his final goal. His sword seems to burn a brand deep into the palm of his hand as he clutches at it. This has to be it. This is his chance. And he’s not going to let anything keep him away from it.

That’s why, at first, the scream doesn’t stop him. In fact, so focused on his target is he that when the scream, shrill and female and almost familiar, echoes across the battlefield, he barely hears it. Above all the other usual sounds of war, what reason is there for he to focus on one scream alone? But a second later, like the aftermath of some awful dream, the realisation comes to him. He could have almost sworn that sounded like...No. He shakes that thought out of his mind as soon as it comes to him, or at least he tries to, but the idea comes to him again and again. And the distraction of it falters his movements, the horse, confused, stumbling in its strides, and Dave has to cling on for dear life to save himself from being pitched forwards and off over the horse’s head. And he knows, then, clear as day, what he has to do, and with an irritated groan he tears his vision away from the King and spins the horse back round. 

“Who was that?” He mutters angrily to himself as he rides back down into the frenzy of it all, weaving around the hundreds of individual fights the battle is splitting into. Here and there are more faces he doesn’t recognise, strangers fighting for their cause. In his panic, he barely feels the gratitude that whips through him at that. He should be fighting, saving and protecting his people but he could have sworn...he could have sworn that scream sounded like her. And though he knows it can’t have been, is sure she’s too strong to fall to any of these soldiers, he knows he won’t be able to think about anything else or concentrate on getting them to victory until he knows for sure.

And it’s just as thinks that, that he hears it. 

“Dave!” His name carries across the battlefield, far louder to him than any other sound, “Dave!” That voice he knows well enough: Feferi. 

The source of her voice is close, and he circles the horse around quickly in that direction, eyes scanning the crowds frantically for her. It doesn’t take long to find her. Hunched on the ground, surrounded by soldiers and barely reacting to every punch and kick and swing of blade that lashes out at her, Feferi’s entire body is heaving with what Dave assumes is her body’s last fight for life. As he gets closer though, urging the horse on with every last bit of energy he’s got, Feferi turns her face upwards, mouth open ready for a scream that’s silenced the second she spots him, and he sees that, in fact, she is not dying, not quite yet. Instead, she’s crying. She’s sobbing, screaming, her throat must be raw for nothing else could cause the complete lack of sound she’s currently making. But Dave’s blocked from her by rings of soldiers who have, for some reason, made her their target, and he’s almost ready to give up on her. Seconds later, though, Feferi moves slightly, and every answer clicks into place in Dave’s mind. Why Feferi is crying, why they’re still trying to get to her, what she’s doing on the floor in the first place, all of it suddenly makes sense, and in that moment Dave feels every part of his body go numb, his mouth filling with sickly sweet saliva. Because Feferi is not alone. She’s crouched over someone on the ground, someone who is not moving. And that person is Aradia.

Dave pulls back so hard on the reins that the horse rears as it stops, and Dave uses the momentum of it to roll himself out his saddle and throw himself downwards to the floor. The horse disappears off into the battle with a frenzied scream, but Dave barely notices, too intent on racing towards Feferi, swallowing thickly again and again to stop himself from being sick. That scream, that damn scream, he’d known it was familiar, but he’d tried so hard not to believe it, not to feel it. Now he thinks his heart is splitting in two as he runs for Feferi, barely even feeling the impacts of blows that are swung at him or recognising the movements of his own arms as he cuts his attackers down. And then he’s falling down onto his knees in the dirt beside Feferi, his own mouth open in a choking reflection of her own silent scream, and scrabbling with desperate hands for Aradia.

“She’s alive, just,” Feferi sobs, “I couldn’t stop them they, they got her and I -”

“Where’s Eridan?” Dave snaps to silence her, his hands finding purchase on Aradia’s shoulder where she lays on her side in the mud.

“Dead,” she chokes, her voice all sharp edges and spitting anger, and Dave's heart twists further in his chest. How many of their people are they doomed to lose? On the ground, Aradia suddenly heaves a sharp gasp, her body lurching towards Dave, and he grabs at her shoulders, pulling her around onto his back as best he can as her eyes fight their way open. 

“I’m sorry, Dave,” Feferi murmurs, and then, making a grab at the trident she fights with where it’s been dropped to the ground, she struggles back up onto her feet, though he can only imagine how her body must be aching, and through her injury throws herself back into the battle. She is, he realises, protecting his back to give him time with Aradia. He whispers a breathless thanks he knows she’ll never hear, and then he’s frantically tugging Aradia closer towards him, ‘til, when she moves again in another thrashing movement, her head falls back into his lap.

“Aradia,” he breathes gently, hands instantly falling to her shoulders to try and soothe her, fingers pressing into the muscles there until her body falls limp and her eyes stop rolling back in her head quite so much. After a moment, they focus on him, and he breathes out a faint sigh of relief, taking a moment to assess her. Her shirt is almost entirely torn, shredded to barely nothing, and beneath it her torso is a mess of wounds, bleeding out onto the floor. The pallor of her skin is enough to tell him how much she’s already lost. Healer instinct tells him to apply pressure to the wound, stem the flow of blood, but the logical part of his mind cannot even work out where to start.

A rough gurgling starts low in her throat then, and finally breaks into words. “Dave,” she gasps, her head rolling backwards slightly, “Dave.”

“Hi,” he gasps, “What happened?”

“No time,” Aradia chokes, fighting to try and sit up, until she gives up under Dave’s hands that hold her back. 

“Hey,” he says, “Hold on for me, yeah? I’m gonna get you out of here. Someone will heal you, okay?”

“No, no,” she protests breathily, and then moves her head as best as she can, turning to look up at him. “Dave,” she forces her voice out as loudly as she can despite her clear pain, “Dave I am going to die. This is the way it must be. I knew this.”

“No!” He screams despite himself, and Aradia presses her eyes shut, one tear forcing its way out and down her cheek, cutting a path through a dried blood stain there. “Aradia, please, no, just -” He’s never been one for begging, has kept his head high even when facing the very worst sides of humanity, but as her face pales visibly before him, he finds himself screaming inside his head. If there is a god, he can only beg they’re listening to him now.

“Dave,” she says again, and then pauses to cough, choking on a frothing mouthful of blood that spills down her chin. “Dave,” she breathes again afterwards no matter how much he tries to quiet her with tearful hushes and placating hands, “You were such a good friend. I should have told you that before.”

“No, no, no,” Dave begs, “Aradia, please I- Help us! Help!” He’s screaming now, not caring for the tears that burn their way down his face, “We need help!”

“Dave, please,” she chokes, “Just let me speak.”

“Okay, okay,” he quiets, running hands gently through her hair to brush it back from her face as she blinks back tears and does her best to smile at him.

“I never had a friend like you or Karkat,” Aradia gasps softly, “Never knew people like you guys. I’m glad I did before I died. I can die happy now, Dave. Not many people get to do that.

“Aradia, no, you’re supposed to live,” he tells her, unashamed now of his own tears as they fall down onto her bloodied shirt, “You weren’t supposed to die, not you, never you.

“No, I always was,” she says, “I have always been closer to the dead than to the living. This is just the next phase.” Her voice is getting weaker. Dave pretends not to notice it. One of Aradia’s hands comes upwards then, and with the last of her force, tangles itself in the collar of Dave’s shirt and tugs him downwards, forcing him to look her in the eyes as she forces them wide open one last time “Look after Karkat,” she tells him with a pained smile, “And Kanaya and Rose. Look after them all. You deserve to be happy, Dave.”

“So do you,” he tells, and she smiles again with a last of her old brightness, before her eyes slip shut again, her face relaxing.

“Win for me, Dave,” she whispers, voice barely audible, as the last of her fades away.

“Aradia!” He sobs, but he knows she’s gone, her hand already feeling cold when he takes it up in his. With a choke roar of pained anger he drags her upwards from the dirt, pulling her limp body close to his chest and circling his arms tightly around her, yet unable to ignore the way her head lolls sideways. He could hold her here forever, he thinks, but background shouts and screams suddenly breakthrough the fog of his mind, and reminds him that somewhere out there the rest of his friends and family are also hurting.

“I gotta save them,” he whispers quietly, running a hand through Aradia’s hair one last time and then slowly settling her back down onto the ground, “I’ll come back for you, okay? I’ll come back.” Down in the mud, limp limbs splayed at awful angers, she looks smaller than she ever has, and Dave wants nothing more than to scoop her back up and stay with her. To die with her, he thinks, would be less painful than this. But a knight is what he has always been. And knight’s don’t die sitting down.

And then he’s up on his feet, heart pounding painfully fast against his ribs as he tears his gaze away from her body before he stares forever. Feferi is still fighting, though even in just the few seconds he watches her for he sees the way her body is slowing with every movement, her trident too heavy for her now. She’s bleeding out from a huge wound in her stomach, her shirt clinging in against it. Hopelessness sweeps over Dave like a wave. He doesn’t know how he would save her even if he had time to.

“Feferi!” He shouts, and she turns her head in his direction for just a second. He hopes she knows he’s trying to apologise for what he will never be able to do.

She raises her trident above her head and brings it forward with a strangled roar, stabbing through the chest of the nearest soldier. “GO!” she screams, “It’s fine! Go now!” Her arms pitch back again, the trident disengaging from it’s target’s chest and sending the man crashing to the ground below, and she whirls herself at another opponent. Her power is enough to spark something in Dave’s chest, some glimmer of emotion that’s close to hope but definitely isn’t, and he follows orders like he’s been doing his whole life. He runs.

Rage blurs his vision, he thinks maybe he’s never truly felt anger before this moment, but he keeps running, uses his rage to fuel his every motion. He’s aware he’s not thinking straight, but right now his vision is clearing his mind. What must be done, what only he can do, is the one thing that will set them all free, and avenge Aradia. However impossible, however dangerous and life-threatening, he’s going to do it. He’s going to kill the King if it’s the last thing he does.

*****

Dave doesn’t know how long he runs for, dodging attacks and parrying blows and acting on instinct even as his burning muscles scream for mercy. All he knows is that he can see, ahead, the slow moving procession of the King and his guards, and that he will not rest until he gets there. And when he does get there...well, he doesn’t know that part yet. He just knows there are two outcomes, two possible deaths, and he’s going to rest until one or both of those outcomes occurs.

And then, like a siren’s call, drawing him in across the field, it comes.

“Dave!” He knows that voice. “Dave!” He’s not going to listen to it. “STRIDER!” He’s not going to...He’s not...He’s not! And then a hand closes around his wrist and he stumbles, almost falling, and feels another hand on his back catch him.

“Dave,” the voice says again, and Dave turns to find himself facing Karkat, the demon reaching up to bring both hands down onto his shoulders. “Dave, there you are. Look, have you got a plan?”

Dave thrashes in the demon’s arms, desperately trying to throw him off, and finds Karkat’s claws digging tighter into his arms.

“Dave! Talk to me! We need a plan. People are dying, Dave!”

“I KNOW!” Dave screams, “I FUCKING KNOW, KARKAT!” He crumbles then, his brave facade melting as he bursts into tears again, heavy sobs wracking his body.

“What…?” Karkat murmurs quietly, reaching one hand up to his face to try and quell Dave’s tears, and Dave snaps his head around to tear his face away from Karkat’s reach.

“They got Aradia,” He chokes finally, and instantly wishes he hadn’t. Watching as Karkat’s face, so stoic and brave, suddenly crumples in on itself, Dave knows that if he survives this, that sight is never going to leave his mind. 

“No,” Karkat gasps, a trembling hand raising to cover his mouth, “Is she-” Dave shakes his head before Karkat can finish his question. 

“I’m going to kill the King,” Dave says before he can be asked anything else, “It’s the only way.”

“You’ll never do it, not alone!” Karkat snaps, and suddenly the demon seems to set into a panic, “You’ll die too. We can’t lose you Dave. I can’t lose you!””

Dave thinks, by this point, he must be too emotionally wrecked, because he barely even reacts to that, even as he watches the demon fight not to break down right in front of him.. “Someone has to try,” he says with a defeated shrug, ignoring the tears in Karkat’s eyes, knowing if he thinks about them too much it’ll convince him not to go, “And no one else is going to. You can’t stop me, Karkat.”

The demon stares for a second more, before seeming to come to some sort of resolution, shoulders slumping for a moment before he straightens his posture purposefully, hands balling into fists by his sides. “I know I can’t,” he says roughly, voice dark, “Which is why I have to do this.”

And without another word, suddenly the demon dissolves into that same dark mist he was all those weeks ago behind the tavern, leaving Dave’s mouth half-open, un-asked question still sat on his tongue. Instead he takes one stumbling step back in surprise as the mist forms itself into a tight ball, and then, before he can even think to react, it throws itself at him at speed, directly at his face. As the mist engulfs Dave’s senses, he feels his mind reel, and everything goes eerily quiet and peaceful inside his head right before he blacks out completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls feel free to scream at me in the comments as much as you'd like.
> 
> these are the scenes i cried writing all those weeks back, and i cried again piecing them all together today. (yes my family are vaguely concerned.) i actually don't have a lot to say in this note today which is surprising for me tbh, but yeah, here it sort of is, the biggest moments of this fic. some of you predicted this coming and i rlly didn't wanna have to do this but it just made sense and the little version of aradia that now lives in my head thanks to be writing this just sorta persuaded me it had to happen.  
> anyway even tho this was sad as fuck i hope y'all enjoyed(?) or just at least appreciated this chapter.  
> C <3


	16. Chapter 16

When Dave jolts back to consciousness, it’s to find himself not collapsed on the ground, but charging again across the battlefield, blood pounding in his veins. It’s like rousing from a daydream only to find yourself miles from where you’d expected to be and doing an activity you don’t remember starting, like waking up in someone’s life that isn’t your own: startling and confusing and so far from what he’d expected. For a moment, he barely manages to remember exactly what happened leading up to this. But deep in his mind he remembers, he thinks, Karkat doing something to him. There’s not time to ponder it, though; as his vision clears, revealing the mess of mud and blood that is the battlefield to him once again, he starts to become vaguely aware of a dull ache throbbing through his head, worsened with every thud of his feet against the ground, but no matter how he tries he won’t stop moving. And he does try, he tries desperately to force his legs to slow down from their erratic pace, even just a little, but finds his own body seemingly entirely out of his control. The sheer confusion of it leaves him questioning whether he ever knew how to control his own legs in the first place. It’s when he realises this that he starts to panic. It’s like something, or someone, has shoved him out of the driver’s seat of his own body, and all he can do is watch and feel as his body takes control of itself.

 _‘Stop fighting me, fucker!’_ A voice rips through his head suddenly, and Dave feels his own mind reel in shock. He could almost swear that voice was...

“Karkat?” He blurts out, and hears an irritated huff in his own head. Yep, definitely Karkat.

 _‘You haven’t got to speak out loud, idiot, I can hear your fucking thoughts,’_ Karkat grumbles, and Dave could almost swear the demon’s voice (thoughts?) sounds like he’s out of breath.

It takes a long moment for him to work out exactly what’s going on, his mind too consumed by the fact that he’s out of breath and his muscles are aching, but he’s not actively trying to do any exercise. And then it finally hits him. Karkat is in his head. Not just Karkat’s thoughts, but Karkat himself, is actually inside his head.

“Did you possess me?” He all but screams, and Karkat lets out a shriek of frustration that drives Dave’s headache to the brink of agony.

 _‘Stop! Talking! Out loud!’_ Karkat’s voice is like an alarm in his head, and Dave has to stop himself from trying to reach up and tear the demon straight out of his own thoughts.

 _‘Fine,’_ Dave answers, thinking with as much purpose as possible so Karkat can hear it as he tries to calm himself down, _‘What the fuck is happening?’_

_‘I possessed you.’_

_‘Yeah I got that much!’_ Dave snaps, _‘Why? You can’t fucking stop me from doing this Karkat, I’ll -’_

 _‘I’m not trying to stop you, asshole!’_ Karkat snaps.

_‘You’re not?’_

_‘NO!’_

_‘Then what the fuck is going on with my body?’_ Dave snaps.

Karkat’s sigh comes through clear as day, long and exasperated. In his building rage and the left over anger of all that’s just happened, Dave almost screams at the demon’s seeming nonchalance.

 _‘Helping,’_ Karkat grunts after a moment, then pauses as Dave feels one of his hands come up and his sword swing sideways to fend off an incoming attacker.

_‘How is this helping? I can swing my own sword.’_

_‘Not at the King you can’t,’_ Karkat says.

 _‘Karkat I-’_ Dave almost goes off at him then, irritated at once again finding himself under the control of another in the worst way possible, but then he feels it; gently, carefully, a warm insistence pushes down onto the back of his mind, and he feels the demon’s thoughts suddenly flood into his own. Karkat’s presence is warm, almost too warm, curling itself around his own thoughts until his rage eases away a little, and he feels himself settle into a comfortable fuzziness.

 _‘Done now? Or are you still throwing a tantrum like a hatchling?’_ Karkat drawls, _‘Just let me take care of this for a second.’_ Dave doesn’t even bother fighting as Karkat cuts down a few more enemies, barely even feeling the impact of his own sword against their chests. ‘Dave I’m only trying to help,’ Karkat says after a moment.

 _‘You’re...not stopping me?’_ Dave asks, and the demon scoffs.

 _‘Stopping you?’_ Karkat laughs, _‘They killed our fucking friend, Dave. I’m not stopping you, I’m helping.’_

 _‘Why?’_ Dave asks.

 _‘Because I… It doesn’t matter!’_ The demon snaps, _‘Do you wanna kill the King or not?’_

_‘More than anything.’_

_‘Then open up your mind as much as possible,’_ Karkat says, _‘Now.’_

Dave doesn’t know what that means. The world of demons seems to slip further from his understanding every time he starts to think he knows just a little about them. But he tries to clear his thoughts in the way Rose once taught him to help him through those first few months of living with her, and despite everything it seems to work. There’s a weird feeling in his temples, like something stirring around in there, and Dave lets out a long, slow breath, suddenly in control of his own lungs again if nothing else, as Karkat’s mind completely envelopes his own. And from that moment on, Dave forgets where he ends and Karkat begins. They fuse into one and the world changes before Dave’s eyes.

Suddenly, everything is brighter, and louder, and stronger in every possible way. And with it all comes a surge of energy and power like nothing Dave’s ever felt before. It fills him up, floods his bones and bloodstream with bright, pulsing energy, so filled with potential he could almost explode with it, and now, with a share in his own body’s control once again, Dave uses it to drive him forwards as he sprints across the churned up mud.

He’s never gone this fast before. He doesn’t think it should even be humanly possible. Air rushes past him, drying his eyes painfully and tousling his already ruined hair, grass flying up beneath his feet. He pays attention to none of it. The King is back in his line of sight again, and it’s all he’s focused on, heading for the line of King’s guards and gripping at his sword so tightly his fingers begin to cramp. Karkat’s voice isn’t there anymore, no longer shouting instructions from the back of his consciousness, but he can feel the demon’s presence in every movement he makes, urging him forwards. It occurs to Dave, after a moment, that Karkat isn’t there to control him. Now he’s barely even taking charge of any action of their currently shared body. No, instead he’s simply there to lend power to Dave. Like a battery. Dave would be grateful if there was currently room in his head for gratitude right now. So instead he breathes out a silent thanks to Karkat and gets back to doing what he does best: fighting.

Moments become a blur soon after. Wolves flash by him now and then, tearing down attackers in their path, a rush of fur and hot, panting breath, and he vaguely recognises Nepeta sprinting past with a sword he’s not seen before gripped in her hands. He doesn’t pay any attention to it. Not until, that is, he sees one single, dark spirit flicker by, torn and wavering and half-faded from reality, diving down at a soldier and using the very last of its existence to take its enemy down: the last of Aradia’s legacy. He almost stumbles in his step, tears suddenly spring up in his already burning eyes.

Like a message straight from the divine, it comes through. _‘You’ve got to do this for her.’_ He doesn’t know if it comes from him, or Karkat, or both of them, but whatever it is or wherever it comes from, he listens to it, and keeps fighting, in Aradia’s honour if nothing else.

It’s bright and painful and red hot in his mind, but he keeps fighting.

“Motherfucker!” A voice shouts then, and suddenly Gamzee’s in his path, ambling his way towards him. Dave practically slides to a halt across the ground, the suddenness of it leaving his breath caught in his throat and his heart hammering at his ribcage.

“Out the way!” He shouts, and is sure his voice doesn’t sound like his own when it comes out of his mouth, “I’m almost at the King!” He’s too desperate, voice cracking. He’s almost there. Almost there.

But Gamzee keeps approaching, uncomfortably slowly, too at ease for someone in the middle of a battlefield as he closes the distance between them, and then stops in front of Dave, head leant carefully to one side to assess him.

Dave raises his sword in Gamzee’s distraction, surprised when Karkat doesn’t stop him. “Move out the way,” he says darkly, “I’m winning us this war.”

Gamzee ducks down very slightly to make proper eye contact, and then grins wonkily. “Hello Karbro,” he grins, “Didn’t see you in there motherfucker.”

“You can tell?” Dave asks, and Gamzee scoffs.

“I’m a motherfucking demon,” Gamzee grins, “Course I up and know when my bro’s possessed by one.”

“I’m not your bro,” Dave tells him, “Get out my way.”

A soldier runs at them then, seeing the two of them as easy targets as they stand there, and Gamzee throws up a hand, sending the soldier crumpling down onto his knees, sword slipping from his grip into the dirt below. “You need me,” Gamzee says, “Can’t do this shit alone.”

Dave stares defiantly for a second, watching as more approaching soldiers slow and then turn and stumble away, confused. Even with Karkat powering his every movement, the approaching soldiers are far too many for him to get past. He’ll never do it alone. Gamzee’s right; he needs help. He feels his own shoulders slump in defeat. “Fine,” he grunts, “Let’s go.”

 _‘Good choice,’_ he hears Karkat’s voice grumble approvingly in the back of his mind.

 _‘We trust him now?’_ Dave asks.

 _‘We have to,’_ Karkat says, and Dave can tell the demon doesn’t like it, doesn’t want to trust the other demon either, and only hopes they haven’t made the wrong decision. Right now, though, it would seem there is no other choice.

And so, together, they charge.

Dave and Karkat work as one to cut down every approaching soldiers, Dave’s muscles aching with exhaustion but driven on by some energy source he’s never felt before. This must be whatever it is that fuels demons, he supposes, and though it feels like a parasite under his own skin, something that should never have been at home inside a human, he lets it drive him through the aching. They fight, and run, and cut down enemies, again and again, over and over, a never ending cycle of muscle pain and blood and superficial injuries scraping their way up his limbs when he doesn’t dodge incoming attacks quite in time. He barely even feels it when a sword slices through the shoulder of his jacket and pierces the skin, only thinks to make sure it gets sewed up later for Kanaya’s sake if anything. Karkat, though, lets out a faint hiss in the back of his head.

“You alright?” Dave grunts breathlessly, too focused on everything around him to remember he doesn’t need to speak out loud.

 _‘Focus on running,’_ Karkat replies, _‘I’ll focus on the pain.’_

And that’s when Dave realises what Karkat is doing. The demon is taking his pain, his feelings, and processing them for him. That’s why everything feels so...weird. He wonders, vaguely, if this is what being in a demon’s body feels like all the time for Karkat, so filled with buzzing energy not of this world.

 _‘Thank you,’_ he thinks when another small blow from a sword hits him and he doesn’t feel a thing, and hopes Karkat hears it. There’s no reply to let him know either way.

Beside him, Gamzee uses his powers to throw people sideways and send them running back, whatever he can do to clear their path. Occasionally, Dave even watches him just give up and revert back to fist fighting. Even when swinging random punches the demon is scarily powerful.

And within what feels like only seconds, they’re reaching the King;s tight knit group of guards. They turn on them instantly, weapons raised, their horses snorting and stamping their hooves menacingly, eyes flashing darkly with some evil Dave hasn’t seen in horses’ eyes for a long time. Fighting cavalry while on foot is not easy. Which is why, when two wolves suddenly appear out of nowhere, and start to tear down the horses, Dave just averts his eyes and breathes out a sigh of relief, focusing instead on taking down the few soldiers that continue to approach on foot. But the King’s guards are well trained and even with the wolves on his side Dave’s struggling, and for a long few minutes he’s terrified that this is impossible, and that any minute now a sword is going to impale straight through him and this will all be over for him.

Then there’s a break in the line of guards suddenly, and Dave sees, through it, the King, a sword raised to protect himself but hiding behind guards still, and Dave grits his teeth in determination. This is the foe he has been waiting for for his entire life. His past, his darkness, everything that ever happened, it has all led to this exact moment. He came here with a job to do, and he’s going to get it done. And so he pushes past the last horse, stumbling a little as a horse steps sideways and shoves into him, and gets to the King. This is it.

He raises his sword, and the fight begins.

In his head, as he fights, Dave is aware this is it. This could be the last battle he ever fights, or this could be the end of the horror they’ve been facing for so long. Either way, this is important.

The King is armoured and his sword is sharp, but Dave is younger and has the energy of a demon on his side, and even when he can’t quite get as many hits in, he’s dodging them easily. Maybe he’s getting over confident, but he can’t help thinking this just feels like every other fight he’s ever fought, and he keeps expecting that any minute now he’s going to win this. But it’s hard, and long, and he feels himself tiring despite Karkat’s input. And its as he stumbles, a little exhausted, just after parrying a blow, that it happens. The King swings his sword around and stabs Dave directly in the stomach.

For a second, everything stops. All the sound and colour fades out of the world, and all Dave feels is the roar of adrenaline and blood rushing out of his head. Blood pools outward from his stomach as the blade retracts, air leaking out of his own lungs leaving him winded, and he sees a blade coming straight for him again, metal gleaming in the sunlight. It doesn’t hurt. Nothing hurts. Karkat is still redirecting the pain away from him. But his mind is too flooded with exhaustion, and despite the current state of his mind there’s still the lingering leftovers of all the rage and grief from the loss of Aradia. Not for the first time, he thinks it would be easier to just give up and let this take him.

At the last moment, though, all of his muscles suddenly jolt, and he’s thrown out of the way of the blow by Karkat’s force.

 _‘Dave!’_ The demon gasps in his head. His voice is weak and frantic, and Dave wishes he could take the pain away from him like the demon is doing for him. But now he owes Karkat his life even more than he did before, and he knows now he has to focus on fighting.

 _‘Keep fighting!’_ Karkat demands, _‘You’ve got this Dave, I know it.’_

It’s been a long time since anyone believed in him quite so much, Dave thinks. The last person to ever see this much in him was probably Rose. A warm wave of appreciation for Karkat flashes through him, and he uses it to drive him. If nothing else, he’ll fight to protect the demon currently taking up residence inside of him.

So when the King lunges at him, he swings his sword again, even with limbs that feel like they’re starting to give up on him. He keeps fighting on, even when he feels like he’s ready to give up, because that is what he’s always done. But some part of his mind, the one part Karkat’s presence hasn’t taken over, remains doubtful that he can do this, that he was ever even really made for this.

And then, suddenly, everything around him freezes. Soldiers falter in their step, and even the wolves freeze, teeth bared in unending snarls, and it’s just him and the King, swords raised. Him and the King alone, and the whole world doesn’t matter anymore. Gamzee falters beside him, arms out sideways as he does his best to hold back as many people as he can, and Dave knows, as his blood seeps out of him and his strength fades, that this is his last chance.

“Do it now!” Gamzee snarls out through gritted teeth and panting breath, straining with all his effort. And so Dave does.

He spins round to face the King again, parrying a few blows as best he can, and breathes out a heavy sigh of relief as he manages to force the King backwards a little bit towards the line of frozen soldiers behind him. Behind the dark metal of the King’s helmet, Dave thinks he sees, just for a second, even darker eyes. And for an even shorter moment of time, he almost imagines those eyes are stretched wide with fear. And something about that spurs a last burst of determination into him. There's the tiniest of gaps between the two pieces of the King's armoured breastplate, and as soon as he spots it he focuses in on it like a target. This is it. Dave raises the sword and feels Karkat’s red hot strength pour into his muscles. And then he drives it straight through the King’s heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hated writing this chapter gotta be honest so that's why its so short lmao. i sorta go by 'if its boring to write its boring to read' and i knew if i forced myself to make this scene longer itd be real boring so i just went with the shorter one to break up the flow a little, hope its still alright. it was very fun to develop karkat's powers a little tho. this is un beta read as usual so yehh if theres a problem (especially with the formatting for this one) lemme know.  
> four more chapters to go and i am very excited about all of them!! - C <3


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: death, injury, blood, emetophobia

The second the King crumbles, Dave swears the battlefield falls silent. An army without a leader can often continue onwards, but a kingdom without a King is far different, too out of control and with too many loose ends. The uncertainty left behind by the loss of such a tyrannical leader starts to bloom at the exact moment the first drops of brilliant, crimson red blood hit the floor. Dave hears the panic ripple through the crowds. The fighting continues, of course, devoted soldiers still giving their all to honour their now fallen monarch, but hopelessness is already beginning to seep into the losing side, and a few of the fighters are already beginning to retreat. Amongst it all, Dave stands alone, hands shaking with the realisation of exactly what he’s just done. Determined, he twists the sword up and out of the body, still twitching ever so slightly on the floor, and then turns with the blade held high in triumph.

The King’s head guard approaches, and Dave lowers the sword, tip angled in his direction, but never gets the chance, for Gamzee suddenly appears from out of nowhere and gets the guard by the throat in one huge hand.

“You call them off now, motherfucker,” Gamzee snarls, and it shouldn’t be so easy, but the demon’s eyes flash with blindingly bright light and the guard, face blank, stumbles backwards when he’s released in a trance of sorts, mind wiped of any previous thoughts. The guards in the immediate area freeze and turn themselves around, and by the time they’re marching away the soldiers in their wake begin to scatter too.

It’s a quiet sort of pandemonium on the field as Dave and Gamzee head away from the scene. Half of the soldiers seem unaware, still fighting with all their effort, while others closer to the King’s body are already scattering, some doing their best to rally the army still but some having entirely given up. Gamzee’s running out of energy now, taking longer and longer to throw aside each soldier that approaches them, but he does his best either way, Dave no longer in any state to fight of those who approach him. The loss of blood now is starting to slow him even with Karkat powering him on, and secretly Dave thinks that maybe this is it, the end. He doesn’t say it out loud though, doesn’t even try to fight it; if this is how he is to die, he can’t think of a more fitting end. After all, hasn’t he just done what he’s been wanting to for years? The thought leaves a bitter taste of satisfaction sitting on his tongue as they fight their way through the chaos.

And then, again, there’s that horn, that dreadful sound this time now a miracle as it marks what Dave can only imagine must be the end of this. As it carries across the field, the reaction is instantaneous. Soldiers pause in their fights for a second disbelievingly, some turn tail and run instantly. No matter how they react, the meaning of that horn is clear: the right is over, the King’s ary is retreating.

“You did it, brother,” Gamzee says beside him, shaking off a few more incoming soldiers who still haven’t given up the fight, “You fucking did it!” Dave doesn’t have enough energy to reply.

A moment later, though, they come across a struggle, Kanaya caught in the middle of it, and Dave glances over at Gamzee desperately. “Get her to safety,” he grunts, “I can get myself out of here.”

Gamzee looks him up and down curiously, and then nods. “Look at the human, Karkat,” Gamzee says to the demon hidden inside Dave’s head, and then he turns and sprints off across the field towards Kanaya. Karkat takes control and forces him to keep heading to safety to stop him from chasing after the other demon.

With the soldiers retreating now, Dave knows he should get to safety, should start regrouping with the others so they can get away from here. Karkat’s still deep inside him somewhere, the weight of the demon pressing down on the back of his thoughts, but Dave barely acknowledges whatever it is the demon’s doing. His mind is somewhere entirely else right now. Aradia. He has to find her.

And so, still bleeding out but barely recognising the feeling of it anymore, he starts running. Dave runs like he’s still running for his life, looking back and forth across the torn up ground and stumbling in mud and clods of grass in his desperation, not caring for the groups of soldiers that still fight around and the blades they swing his way. There’s a promise he has to fulfil, even if it kills him. And finally he knows he’s where he should be, knows it from the blood stains seeping into the grass and the shreds of what once were tents across the floor. And Aradia’s body isn’t there. It isn’t where he left it. He stumbles to a halt, feet sliding in the reddened mud, and stares around himself with his heart pounding wildly. He must be mistaken, it must be somewhere else, but deep down he knows that it should be here.

 _‘Dave,’_ Karkat’s voice suddenly scrapes back into his thoughts, the demon resurfacing from whenever he’s been hiding deep inside his mind, _‘You need to watch your back. War’s not over and you’re bleeding out.’_

“I need to bring her home, Karkat!” Dave screams out loud, not caring for those who turn to stare at him, his voice trembling in his body’s sudden weakness.

 _‘I know,’_ the demon hisses, and Dave feels his own arm swing outwards, knocking aside a suddenly incoming attacker. The blow’s not quite strong enough, Dave isn’t strong enough anymore. His burning eyes suddenly let their tears fall in all that plagues him, and he screams into the open sky.

 _‘Quiet!’_ Karkat hisses, and then Dave’s enveloped, pulled back and away from his own body and soothed in heavy darkness and a bright red light. ‘I’ll get us to safety,’ is the last thing he hears before he gives in and lets himself sink away completely.

By the time he comes back from whatever Karkat has pulled him into, Dave finds himself stumbling to the edge of the battlefield, down to the woods where this all first started. And there, ahead of him, is Rose, crouched over someone on the floor who Dave can’t quite bring himself to look at just yet. He could almost sob in relief, yet finds that already there are tears streaming down his face, and it takes him a moment to recognise that the sadness inside of him is not his own, instead radiating in waves from the demon hidden deep inside of him.

 _‘Karkat?’_ He asks quietly, and gets no reply. The demon’s efforts are too focused elsewhere. Dave glances down at his own hands to find them clutched against his stomach, pressing in against the wound in some desperate attempt to hold back the last of the blood. He still can’t feel the pain, but he feels Karkat’s and knows without asking that he is dying. He lets the demon take over again, and they stumble and lurch their way over towards the others.

And then he pauses in his step, forcing his way suddenly out of Karkat’s control as something catches his eye. At the very edge of the meadow, Feferi is splayed out across the floor, her colourful clothing tattered but enough to recognise her by, her body thrown over something, some motionless body. The mass of curly hair and red clothing isn’t hard to identify.

“Aradia!” Dave breathes out, and then he’s running again, not listening to Karkat trying to call him back, not stopping until he falls to his knees by Feferi’s side.

It’s only then he sees the way Feferi’s eyes are rolled back into her head, her breathing ragged and shallow. She bears a wound similar to his, gaping in her stomach. Dave reaches out, touches her shoulder to push gently, and she rolls sideways into the dirt with a gasp.

“Fef?” He gasps out quietly, and for a second her eyes are focused on him, until her eyelids come down in the way. “Feferi talk to me.”

“I had to... bring her back,” Feferi chokes after a moment, her voice an awful rasp, “Had to…”

“Ssh,” Dave hushes, even as his eyes fill with tears again. Feferi’s sacrifice is evident in the wounds that mark her back and arms, the defence she must have put up in a desperate attempt to get Aradia’s body to safety. How long, he wonders, had she known she was dying for? And her last decision, it seems, was to protect Aradia’s body with the last of her own life. He doesn’t know how to voice his thankfulness for her, and doesn’t think he’ll ever get a chance to.

“Where’s Eridan?” He asks instead, “His body, Fef, where is it?” There’s no answer, just a ragged cough and a splutter from Feferi, her hands clenching into the grass. “Fef! Tell me where he is!” Dave shouts, “Please, I’ll bring him to you, I’ll….”

 _‘Dave,’_ Karkat warns, and Dave knows without asking that the demon’s strength is running out too now, can feel the way it seeps out of both of them.

“I...I don’t,” Feferi chokes, and Dave just sighs softly, and puts a hand on her shoulder, rolling her further onto her back to take the pressure off her wound as her eyes roll back again and the last breaths roll off her lips in an awful rattle.

“I’ll find him for you,” Dave whispers quietly as he sees her chest heave one last time and then fall still, “I’ll find him.” It's a lie, and he doesn't know who it's a lie for anymore.

 _‘Dave,’_ Karkat calls again, _‘You can’t-”_

 _‘No,’_ Dave agrees softly, _‘But you can.’_

_‘What?’_

_‘Leave me, Karkat,’_ Dave pleads quietly, _‘Go get Eridan. She brought back Aradia for us, it’s only fair.’_

_‘Dave if I go you’ll-’_

_‘I know,’_ Dave tells him, _‘Worth it.’_

There’s a long silence then, and Dave feels his head swim with dizziness. Karkat stirs in his mind somewhere.

 _‘It’s going to hurt now,’_ Karkat says then, _‘It’s going to hurt like a bitch.’_ There's no goodbye from him, no dramatic and reluctant exit, just the demon slowly untangling himself from Dave's subconscious. And then, with a rush of pressure like nothing Dave’s ever felt before, the demon leaves his head, and Dave’s left with an emptiness in his mind he’s never felt before. His vision whites out for a second, and by the time it’s restored Karkat is corporeal in front of him. Dave smiles weakly up at the demon, and then the pain comes.

In an instant Dave’s aware of how much blood he’s lost, his body screaming with pain where it still forces its way out of the gaping wound in his stomach. His breath catches in his throat in panic, and he keels forwards into the dirt, barely managing to force himself onto his side as he feels a hand land on his shoulder.

“Dave,” Karkat chokes softly, and Dave pushes him away.

“Help the others,” he grunts, “You’re the only one of us who can.” His vision begins to fade away again, the last of his strength fading now without the demon’s energy to power his body anymore. He gets a last glimpse of Karkat staring down at him, tears in his eyes, saying something Dave can’t hear no matter how he tries, before he lets himself sink fully into the darkness. It’s soft and comfortable and quiet down there in its depths, and as he falls down into the end of it all, Dave feels peace wash over him like it never has before. He dies with a hand resting gently on Aradia’s side where she’s splayed out behind him, and a scream that sounds an awful lot like Rose echoing, distorted, around him.

He dies comfortable in the dirt.

*****

And then he wakes up.

Coming back to life is the opposite of dying. It’s hot and sharp and loud, and Dave surfaces into the brightness of the living world with the feeling of someone pulled from a comfortable dream into a day they’ve long been dreading. For a long moment there’s nothing but pain through every section of his body and a tremendous thundering inside his head, and Dave almost succumbs to the urge to keep his eyes closed and retreat back to that darkness. Then his lungs kick in and he draws in a shuddering breath that jolts his body back into movement and sends his eyes flying open into a day far, far too bright.

“Oh, Dave!” A voice gasps, and Dave forces his eyes to focus until he can just about make out the shape of Rose leaning over him. And Rose is glowing.

From her head to her toes Rose is glowing with a bright white light, her hands shaking with it where she grips at his shoulders. Even the tears when they pour down her cheeks are shining, like diamonds when they fall down onto her cloak. He’s never seen power like it from her, and yet, he thinks, he’s always known she’d had it within him. Rose is not one to use power unless it’s entirely necessary. Just how much it means for her to have used it on him like this is not lost on him.

“I thought I’d lost you,” she sobs softly, reaching out a hand until she makes contact with Dave’s cheek. Her magic burns ice cold into his skin under her hand, her touch alone too much too soon, but he rolls his head into it anyway and smiles up at Rose.

“Won’t get rid of me so soon, sis,” he says weakly, his voice scratchy and weak but there all the same.

“Quiet, save your energy,” she murmurs, “You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

“Didn’t know you could raise the dead,” he jokes instead, and so rolls her eyes at him.

“You weren’t quite dead,” Rose smiles painfully, "Well, your heart restarted after a second anyway." And then she gently smooths a hand over his tangled hair for a second before she withdraws. “I must help the others,” she says, “I’ll be back, I promise.” He doesn’t doubt her for a second.

Before she can move away, though, Dave raises a hand with all his strength, and grabs onto her sleeve. “Karkat,” he says, “Is he-”

“Alive,” Rose replies, “Last I saw he was dragging in Eridan’s body.” Her eyes flicker with grief at the mention of it, but all Dave can do is let his eyes flutter shut in relief that at least some things are as they should be. And for a long while there’s nothing but the distant sounds of chatter and cries and desperation as Dave fades in and out of consciousness, Rose’s magic doing its work to sustain him.

And then, through it all, he hears the shout.

“Dave!” A familiar voice calls, and before he can even open his eyes up again there’s a demon falling to his knees by his side and reaching for him with trembling hands.

“Karkat,” he breathes out softly, opening up his eyes finally and smiling up at him as best as he can, “Hey.”

“Oh thank fuck I thought...I thought you… Shit, Dave.”

“Heh,” Dave mutters softly, “I thought so too.” He moves a hand with painstaking agony to rest on top of Karkat’s, and blinks wearily at the demon. “The war,” he asks, “Is it over?”

“The soldiers are retreated and the King dead,” Karkat shrugs, “There isn’t much more we could ask for.”

“Then it is won enough for now,” Dave says with a nod, and settles his head back into the dirt beneath him with a groan. “We should be on the move.”

“We will be,” Karkat says, “Soon. The wolves are gathering their dead and then it will all be over.”

“How many have we lost?” Dave asks, but fades back into sleep before he ever gets an answer.

*****

When Dave wakes again, this time it’s to a strange and shuddering rhythm and the pounding in his head getting worse with every shake of his body. His body lolls forwards and he catches himself before he can fall, to find himself propped strangely on the back of one of those huge wolves. A hand steadies his shoulder, and he blinks upwards to find Rose walking slowly along beside the wolf.

“We’re almost at the house,” she tells him, and Dave nods and lets his eyes fall closed again until they come to a stop outside the house.

When he opens his eyes again to find them outside the house, the door is open, and Rose helps him up and off of the wolf’s back. The wolf disappears instantly into the house afterwards, and re-emerges as a woman moments later. Dave nods at her in silent thanks. He’s surprised to find that he can stand easily, the previous dizziness gone and his pain already easing. Rose’s magick has worked its wonders already, and he’s glad for it. Even so, a second later someone hurries to his side, and reaches over to put a hand down onto his shoulder. Dave looks over to find Nepeta there, a reserved smile on her face as she nods at Dave, and he lets out a heavy sigh of relief to find her alive and not seriously injured.

“You’re feeling okay?” Nepeta checks, seeming a little confused to find Dave suddenly so steady on his feet.

“Rose’s magick is strong,” Dave tells her, and then looks back over to where people are starting to hurry into the house. The sight is horrible.

People are leaning against each other and staggering in their weakness, only the worst of injuries having been treated by Rose on the battlefield, and the strongest are lifting the bodies into the house. Amongst them all, Dave sees Aradia’s house vanishing into the house’s familiar depths, and a sudden wave of nausea builds in his stomach until he has to swallow thickly again and again to try and force it down. In the horror of it all, Aradia’s loss had almost escaped his memory. Now, as he watches her disappear before him again, it’s all he can think about.

“Aradia,” he chokes out, and Nepeta’s hand squeezes gently at his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Dave,” she murmurs, and then, curiously, “Did you love her?”

Dave looks up at her, expecting to be mocked, only to find Nepeta staring at him with a deep intensity, as if the question holds so much more weight than he could imagine. “Not romantically,” he says softly, “But as a friend...As a friend I loved her more than anything.”

It’s only then that he cries again. The tears come thick and fast, burning his eyes and stinging his cheeks when they spill out over his lashes, and though he does his best to stop them with his hands, there’s far too many, and eventually he gives up. Nepeta holds onto his arm as he cries, rubbing soothingly at it, until she gently moves him backwards, and for a second Dave’s confused until he feels his back meet something soft and sturdy. He turns in time to get a quick glance at Karkat’s face before the demon draws him tightly into his arms and holds him there. It’s embarrassing, Dave thinks, after all these years of being stoic and brave-faced, but he can’t help the way he sobs onto Karkat’s shoulder as the two stand there. Maybe it’s the grief, or the blood loss, but something leaves him feeling numb, even as the demon presses in close, warm and comfortable.

“Why her?” Dave mumbles after a moment.

“It’s always the best people we lose too early,” Karkat says with a small shrug, and then slowly he steps back, loosening his grip on Dave, and when he looks up he finds that the demon’s crying too. “Let’s go inside,” Karkat says quietly, “You need to sit down.” And as they walk towards the house Karkat takes hold of Dave’s hand and doesn’t let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhghh i have strayed so far from how this was supposed to go but i am loving it, the characters really took on their own lives in my head and i just sorta knew what was supposed to happen. i hope y'all are enjoying it too because i am literally loving writing these chapters so much!!!  
> im sorry i didn't get around to answering comments on the last chapter. I was sorta exhausted and ill a lot again over the last week, but know that i read every comment and they really mean a lot and motivate me so much.  
> \- C <3


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: some mention of injury

Dave thinks he must be at least a little dazed once he’s in the house. He sits in a stiff wooden chair against the wall in the living room, left alone as Karkat slips off to help somewhere in the house, and the world moves around him as he sinks into his own thoughts. Rose draws everyone into the room, setting the place up quickly like it’s a hospital, and though instinct tells him he should be helping, Dave can’t find the strength to get to his feet. The bodies are gone from sight, and that’s relief enough for Dave, but the endless sea of bloody wounds and harrowed faces is exhausting just to look at, the extent of their loss and suffering too vast to face right now. He closes his eyes against it all, and doesn’t open them for a long time until he feels some sort of movement against his side.

Looking down, Dave finds Karkat settling himself on the carpet beside the chair, and he wordlessly passes a chipped teacup of steaming tea up towards Dave before leaning sideways against Dave’s legs. He opens his mouth for a second, instinct telling him to ask Karkat something,anything, about how he’s doing, but closes it again, unsure what answer he could even expect anyway. Instead, he sips at the too-hot tea, feeling the honey stirred into it wash over his tongue, and for a second almost finds that there’s some comfort in the familiarity of it. If Kanaya’s still up and making tea, then the world can’t be entirely wrong, he thinks.

“My pack and I must get going,” Jade says after a long while has passed in the room, “I wish I could stay a while longer, but there are things to do and matters of importance at hand. I must get word to John Egbert, to make sure he is rightuflly the one to take the crown.”

Dave sits up a little then, interested. “How are you going to get a message to him?” He mumbles, and Jade smiles very slgihtly.

“Prince Egbert is my cousin,” she says, and the room falls into stunned silence.

“I knew that,” Terezi offers helpfully, and Vriska rolls her eyes at her with a laugh.

“How?” Dave asks, and Jade shrugs.

“You’d be surprised the connections some of us have,” she says. With a sigh, she raises a hand to wipe a streak of blood or mud from her face. “My pack will take their dead,” she adds, and then turns to nod at Kanaya where she’s limping into the room, “Thank you, Kanaya, for your hospitality, and for leading us all into this battle. It’s been coming a long time, and I couldn’t have asked for a better army to march alongside.”

Dave finds, again, that’s he’s emotional, glad only that at least Jade has made it this far. When Jade passes him by, he smiles up at her, and mouths a ‘thank you’ that she returns before she steps backwards out of the room. Jake hurries after a moment later, bearing medicine bottles bestowed on him by Rose, and then the wolves are leaving the house and Dave can almost imagine that their missing presence is already a gaping hole in the house. He watches them go through half-lidded eyes, and then drifts again into a half-sleep state, aware vaguely of someone removing the teacup from his hands seconds before he can drop it.

When he wakes though, it’s to find himself full suddenly of energy, and, for some reason he can’t quite place his finger on, crying. He thinks he dreamed of Aradia, though already the memories are fuzzy, and that leaves his mind even more scrambled than before. Karkat is gone from his side, and across the room Rose is stripping blankets into strips for bandages. He getsto his feet, the exhsuation suddenly gone, but finds that looking out over all the injuries and stricken faces he can barely bring himself to face it all. He sways on his feet, and knows Rose sees.

“Karkat,” she calls then, and he suddenly spots the demon crouched at the other side of the room, talking to Vriska about something. She waves him over towards Dave, and he finds himself suddenly confronted by the two of them.

“Can I help?” He asks, and tries to protest when she shakes her head.

“Dave,” she says warningly, “You may feel better now but being brought back from the dead is no small feat. You need to rest, away from here. Go with Karkat, okay?”

Still he has the urge to protest, but when he glances over at the demon, he finds himself thinking that maybe, right now, talking to Karkat is exactly what he needs. And so he allows himself to be dragged away, checking Rose over his shoulder a few times, instinct telling him he should be helping her but unable to bring himself to deal with it right now.

Dave’s no fool. He sees, as they leave the living room, the look on every face of every person they pass, their own pain put aside for just a second to feel some sympathy for him and Karkat and their lost friend. He hates it, feels infantalised by their pity, by the way the three of them seem to have always been regarded as the children of the group, but Karkat grabs a hold of his wrist before he can say a word and marches him out of the room with a dignified air, and Dave can do nothing but follow. He almost drags himself out of the demon’s grip, though, when he realises exactly where they’re headed, the approaching door driving another bolt of grief right through his heart, but finds he has neither the energy nor the will to fight against Karkat. He just stumbles along almost blindly as Karkat opens up the familiar door.

The library is exactly as they left it. Glittering dust motes dance in the air, stirred up from the carpet by the door’s sudden movement, catching the sunlight as it streams in through the window before they fall again to settle on furniture and scattered books. IT’s eerily beautiful. And amidst it all, among the stacks of books and the golden sunlight, is the fort Aradia made so long ago. After the horrors of the battlefield, the fort looks strikingly small and insignificant, childish in its sagging ceilings and armchair walls, a displaced thread of fairy lights trailing outwards across the floor in front of it. Dave could almost laugh at the sight of it, but the sound catches in his throat in all the wrong ways and comes out a low keening at the back of his throat. Karkat’s hand tightens around his wrist comfortingly, and he’s dragged along into the fort as the demon crawls inside.

There’s silence for a long time as the two of them settle themselves amid cushions and throw blankets, and then Karkat says, quietly, “We won.”

“Yeah,” Dave huffs. And it’s true, they did. He doesn’t think, truly, he ever expected them to, and now they’re here he’s not sure what to do with it, with all the years of life they’ve now been promised but that were taken from so many. “She didn’t deserve it,” he murmurs, biting back fiercely around the lump in his throat and the stinging of his eyes, “Out of all of us, it should never have been her.”

“I always got the feeling she wanted it to be,” Karkat says, “Dying...I don’t think it scared her. I don’t think she suffered.”

“You weren’t there, Karkat!” Dave snaps. When the demon flinches, eyes widening ever so slightly at the sudden noise, Dave feels even worse, and he lets out a choked sob. “I’m sorry,” he mutters, “I just don’t...I held her Karkat as she...and I felt her...go. I’ve done some fucked up things but that...I’ll never forget that.”

He breaks then. Something in his mind, some precarious wall he’s had up for too long, suddenly comes crashing down and the flood of memories it lets through is too much. Years of basements and sleeping on stone floors and blood on his hands overwhelm him, and Dave covers his face and screams through it all like he always has done. Karkat’s silent for the whole time, and then, after a long while, when Dave raises his head, embarrassed to remember the demon is still watching him, Karkat just murmurs something Dave doesn’t quite hear.

“What?” Dave asks, sniffing grossly.

“I said you’ve got...blood on your face,” Karkat mumbles, ducking his head embarrassed, “Blood on your face and you’re crying through it...looks like you’re fucking crying blood I…” he trails off out of his rambling, and for a long second there’s silence. And it’s so horrifyingly inappropriate and out of place and hilarious all at the same time that Dave can’t control the snort of laughter he lets out, no matter how he tries to stifle it with a hand. Karkat bites down at his bottom lip to hold back his laughter only for a few seconds, but lets out a huff of laughter of his own after a moment, and then the two of them are laughing through their tears. Dave leans forwards to clutch at Karkat’s arm, the two of them batting at each other and holding on for dear life as they laugh and cry and do their best to smile through it.

After a long while, the two of them calm themselves, and Dave feels that some weight at least has been removed from his shoulders as he breathes out a long, deep sigh. Karkat, meanwhile, delves into one of his pockets, and draws out a mass of stained and crumpled fabric, unfolding it gently and smoothing out wrinkles in his hands.

“Is that…my handkerchief?” Dave asks, catching a glimpse of his initials stitched into the corner, and remembering, distantly, giving it to Karkat all those weeks ago in the carriage. The blood of the carriage driver has leached into the cotton, immortalising their deeds in fabric, but something in it stirs up some fond feeling in Dave’s half-destroyed heart. 

“You kept it?” He asks softly.

Karkat shrugs. “Humans don’t often give things to demons,” he says, “I guess it meant something.” And then, before Dave can even react to that, in the most tender action Dave has ever seen from the demon, Karkat leans forward, stablising himself with one hand on Dave’s knee, and gently wipes away a trail of tears from Dave’s face.

It’s that exact moment when Dave realises that no one’s ever treated him like this before. Sure, Rose has cared for him when no one else has, has picked him up off of the floor hundreds of times when he’s felt like giving up, but no one has ever treated him with such gentle care and appreciation. He’s never felt, he realises, someone treat him as an equal like this before. The sudden relisation of it overwhelms Dave. 

“Dave?” Karkat says quietly, and it’s only then Dave notices the gentle movement of handkerchief over his cheek has stopped, and he finds Karkat hand paused on his cheek, Dave’s own hand having apparently subconsciously moved to cover it.

“Hey,” Dave murmurs back, suddenly nervous. Karkat’s eyes, bright and red, flicker up to meet his, and Dave gulps faintly. Here, he thinks, is the one person who might understand it all if given the chance. And if there’s one thing Dave hasn’t had a lot of in life, it’s chances. So when Karkat’s other hand comes up to cradle his jaw, tense and apprehensive, he moves his own hand away from Karkat’s and slides it upwards into the demon’s hair. It’s soft, impossibly so, just like everything about Karkat, so unexpected and gentle, and he draws himself in closer to Karkat until he feels the demon’s breath faltering against his cheek. For a second he feels Karkat pause, hands slipping from Dave’s face ever so slightly, and expects him to pull back. And so Dave’s even more surprised than he was expecting to be when Karkat finally closes the gap between them. 

It’s...warm. Dave tries to find some poetic simile in it all, like people always describe their first kisses, but there is no explosion of fireworks or stars in his eyes, and he’s not standing up so he can’t tell if he’s gone all weak in the knees, or whatever Rose’s trashy romance novels dictate he should be. All there is is warmth, surrounding and consuming him, until he’s almost sure the demon’s presence alone could set him alight. It seeps into his mind until there’s nothing but gentle warmth in there too, that same fuzziness from before pressing in on him, until he almost finds himself opening up his eyes to check whether Karkat has infiltrated back into his head again. The insistent press of another mouth against his own and hands gripping at his face is enough to confirm for him that no such thing has happened, though. Karkat’s presence is just as intoxicating as ever even when he’s not actively possessing Dave, it would appear.

They haven’t been kissing for long, thirty seconds at most, maybe, but it’s somehow both the longest and shortest moment of Dave’s life all at once. Every moment before and after this melts away from his thoughts and from importance, until his only focus is on Karkat. Karkat’s mouth, Karkat’s warmth, Karkat gentle but desperate attack on all his senses. He realises, then, that he’s not exactly responding much to Karkat’s enthusiasm, his hands having slipped further down from Karkat’s head to his shoulders, but he’s got no idea where to even begin. He’s a knight on the battlefield, a healer in his own home, and a monster in his nightmares, but never, not once, has he been a lover. Cold, hard, unfeeling. That’s what he’s always had to be. And this, this is far beyond anything he knows.

It turns out, though, he doesn’t need to know anything. Because when he does the very least he can, gently brushing one hand upwards to Karkat’s nape, fingers curling into fluffy hair, the demon takes that as instruction enough to carry on, and takes enough control that Dave can just fade away into that fuzziness again and let his own body’s instinct take over. He doesn’t exactly know how he knows what to do, but with Karkat, as always, things just feel right, and he gently leans in closer to Karkat as the demon’s hands drop to his waist to draw him in. It’s nothing too much or too far, just gentle and chaste, but it’s enough that Dave thinks he could do this forever.

As quick as it started, though, it’s over. Karkat sits backwards so suddenly it startles Dave, and in the following silence he’s left breathless and dazed. And then, finally, Karkat breaks the haze that’s hanging over them.

“Dave,” he breathes softly, “I’m not...This is human and I...I was never meant to be…”

Instantly, Dave sees the hesitance in the demon’s eyes, the worry that he’s done something wrong, and feels instantly desperate to fix it. “You weren’t meant to be kicked out of hell either, buddy,” he reminds him. It’s the first thing he can think to say.

For a second he thinks that was probably a mistake, but then Karkat ducks his head and tries and fails to stifle a snort of laughter. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” he huffs out through laughter, “All of this is wrong.”

It’s Dave’s turn to worry then. “Wrong?” He asks softly, terrified that somehow Karkat will find this all to be another mistake in the series of events of a truly horrific day. He looks away, and distracts himself by seeking out Karkat’s hand where it still rests against his hip, and locking their fdingers together once more.

“No,” Karkat says gently, startling Dave, “Not wrong. Just...unexpected.” And when Dave looks up again, its to find Karkat watching him carefully with his eyes gently searching out some meaning in Dave’s own face. “Dave I don’t...I don’t know how we’re supposed to do this I -”

“Neither do I,” Dave admits. He’s not good at this, has never been good at talking about emotions. All he knows is that, for once, he wants something to work out for himself. “Who cares about ‘supposed to’,” he says after a moment, squeezing Karkat’s hand, “Let’s just...do this how we want to.”

“And what do you want?” Karkat sighs, “You’re not exactly easy to read, Strider.” His eyes are wide and watery, face switching between a thousand emotions a second, mouth opening for a second as if to say something. And Dave, for the first time in a long while, takes things entirely into his own hands, and shuts him up with a kiss. It’s grossly cliche and mushy and everything Dave has done his best to avoid for most of his life, and Dave hates how much he loves it.

When Dave pulls back, Karkat stares, surprised, for a second, and then the two of them are laughing again and Dave thinks this is all wrong, that all of this is grossly inappropriate for a day so riddled with war and devesation, and yet it’s so right and perfect too. If life were a story, this is the scene it has all been leading up to. He can’t imagine there’s anything past this, and he thinks, maybe, he doesn’t mind that.

The door to the library swings open then, all but screaming on its hinges, and Dave and Karkat practically scramble away from each other, so far it must look horribly unnatural to whoever’s about to walk in. When Dave crawls forwards and peers out of the fort after a moment, though, it’s to find Rose peering down at them, one eyebrow raised.

“What are you two...never mind,” she sighs with a shake of her head, “Look Dave, I know I told you to take a break but Kanaya’s more injured than I thought she was and the others need help and I-”

“Yeah, yeah, I got you,” Dave says, already scrambling up from amongst the pillows. Rose’s stress is evident in the frown lines on her forehead and the strain in her forced smile, and he’s quick to get to his feet to help her. If there’s one thing here that he is comfortable with, it’s being Rose’s assistant. When she instantly turns and hurries back towards the door, muttering thanks, Dave instantly follows. But at the last minute, he pauses when he hears movement behind him, and turns to find Karkat standing there awkwardly.

“Meet me upstairs later,” he tells him quietly, “Sorry, I just...I gotta-”

“Yeah, I know,” Karkat says, a small grin playing at the corner of his mouth, “Go be a hero, Dave.” And it’s not mocking, not taunting, with none of the disbelief he’s so used to people having in him. Instead, Karkat just seems to genuinely believe in him, and it’s enough to give Dave the last bit of confidence he needs to turn and hurry after Rose, throwing a shy grin and a wink at Karkat over his shoulder as he goes.

*****

“Nepeta’s got a head wound,” Rose says the second Dave gets into the living room, “Get it cleaned up, use the sandalwood balm to seal it up, and give her a painkiller just for good measure.”

It’s weird. Having Rose throwing instructions at him, so simple and at ease, is so familiar and ordinary tnat it almost soothes him, even as he’s heading towards the injured empath at the side of the room. She’d seemed fine the few times he’d seen her since the battle, but now, as she sits slumped against the wall, struggling to keep her eyes open, she looks awful, the colour steadily draining from her face. Whatever injury is plagueing her seems to be steadily getting worse. She’d done well to get all the way back to the house seemingly fine.

“Hey,” Dave calls as he approaches, and slowly crouches down in front of her, “Rose says you’ve got a head injury.”

“Yeah,” Nepeta admits quietly, “I didn’t think it was too bad but -”

“All head injuries are bad enough to warrant looking at,” Dave reels off from memory, “Show me where it is.”

Nepeta turns then, shuffling around a little so Dave’s got better access to the back of her head, and lifts up her hair, revealing a spot where something blunt and heavy seems to have hit into the base of her skull. Blood is steadily trickling out from it and running down her neck, though it seems to be clotting well enough around the injury itself.

“This might hurt,” Dave warns her as he reaches up a hand to gently brush aside more hair, and then carefully inspect the wound. He hears the way she breathes in sharply, doing her best to disguise her pain, and he makes his actions even more careful. “Skull’s not broken,” he tells her, “Just some heavy bruising and you’ve split the skin. Got off lightly, really.”

“You can treat it?” She checks, and Dave smiles reassuringly at her.

“Yeah,” he says, “You’re gonna be fine.”

Nepeta’s quiet then as Dave seats himself properly behind her, continuing to hold her hair up as he gets to work on the wound. It’s a little while after a starts cleaning up the wound with a warm water-soaked cloth and some of Rose’s antibacterial oil, that she starts to speak.

“You and Karkat,” she says after a moment, “Something happened.”

Dave startles, only aware his hands have slipped when Nepeta flinches slightly at the pain. “How could you…”

“Empath, remember?” She says with a soft laugh, “Sort of my whole thing.”

“Right, yeah,” Dave nods. A quickl glance around tells him they’re far enough away at the edge of the room, and the others distracted enough, that he feels Rose for once probably isn’t listening in on him. “Uh, yeah, it did,” he says quietly, “We kissed.”

Nepeta smiles brightly, shoulders wiggling a little in her happiness. “Finally,” she murmurs, “I had wondered how long it would take.”

“How did you even know?” Dave asks her as he takes out the sandalwood balm and begins dressing her wound with cautious hands. He’s known Nepeta only a few days, and talked to her only a handful of times, and he can’t quite bring himself to understand how she could possibly have expected that when even he himself had barely even known the extent of his own feelings until just a moment ago. “Empath, right?” He guesses.

“Not just that,” Nepeta says after a long moment. She’s quiet then for a while, until Dave drops down her hair back over the wound and declares it done. She shuffles round to face him then, and takes his hands in her own. Her gaze is intense, and Dave squirms a little as she stares him down, but then she smiles again.

“Dave, have you ever heard of the concept of soulmates?”

Dave scoffs. “Yeah,” he says, “Rose loves reading about that crap.”

“It’s not all crap,” Nepeta says, “It’s rare, yes, but sometimes in this world, there are souls so connected and intertwined that at some point, no matter how long it takes, their paths will inevitably cross. It can be hard to understand, like a feeling deep in the soul that no human word can quite comprehend, but I am one of the few with the ability to see these bonds.”

“You see them?” Dave asks, “Like...in the air?”

“It’s more that I can see them in my mind,” Nepeta explains,” And feel them. And when I met you and Karkat...Well Dave I’ve never felt two souls so in tune with each other as your two’s.”

That surprises Dave. He’d started to suspect about half way through her little speech that she was leading somewhere like this, but even coming from Nepeta it’s almost unbelievable. Almost. After all, didn’t he think, that first day he met Karkat all those weeks ago, that he felt some strange and unexplainable comfort in the presence of the other?

“Your meeting Karkat wasn’t coincidence,” Nepeta says, “None of this was. In fact, I dare say you meeting Karkat was imperative to our survival. The future always hinges on soulmates, you see. They are the few things that can almost always be depended on at some point. You know, I almost thought you knew; the two of you were always so close after all. Although I rather thought Aradia had thrown a spanner in the works, I almost could have believed you loved her.” And then, as an afterthought, she adds, “Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Dave says with a shake of his head, “Aradia and I were just friends. But I...god I miss her. Everything feels wrong no matter what way I look at it. I just want her to be here. She would have been happier for me and Karkat than anyone.”

Nepeta squeezes one of his hands gently. “She would have been,” she tells him, “I could tell she cared for you greatly.” She pauses then, something across the room catching her eye, and smiles distantly. “I’m sure Rose needs you elsewhere,” she says, “But I felt you deserved to know, at least. You and Karkat hold great power. Don’t let go of this, Dave. It’ll be the thing that makes you.” And then she’s gone, disappearing across the room to crouch down beside Vriska where she’s sat alone in a chair, and as the two are lost in conversation, Dave sees Rose approaching him.

It’s only then that he suddenly remembers the strangest little things Rose has mentioned, day after day in the time in which they’ve known Karkat, and the way she’s acted around the two of them, along with her sudden acceptance of Karkat just a day into their journey. ‘She knew,’ Dave thinks to himself, grinning wildly at the sudden recognition of it, ‘She always knew.”

“Dave.” Rose’s voice comes suddenly from his left, and he glances over to find her crouched by his side. “Terezi has a cracked tooth, can you give me a hand?” She asks, and he lets her pull him up to his feet with a smile. Seconds before she can step away from him, though, he grabs hold of her shoulder and spins her around, dragging her into a tight hug.

“Dave...what?” She sputters in surprise, dropping her chin down onto his shoulder after a second and letting out a gentle sigh.

“Thank you,” Dave tells her gently, “For everything ever. Just...all of it.”

Rose snorts softly, and bats him away. “I’ve told you before,” she says, “You’re welcome. Now come help me, idiot.” She’s fond, though, and as she turns away again he sees the way she smiles privately to herself, cheeks glowing a pleased red. And as she hurries over to help Terezi, he’s glad to find himself in his rightful place, working by her side.

*****

Later that evening, as the house quiets down and Dave cleans up the last of his and Rose’s equipment while his sister helps a very injured woman up the stairs to a spare bedroom that so many of their new companions will be sharing, Kanaya wanders into the room. There’s a bandage around her stomach, her shirt rucked up over it, and another around her leg, but she seems in high spirits even so, and sits herself down on the sofa bedside Dave with a smile.

“I’m glad you made it through, Dave,” she says, “We could never have done this without you, and I know everyone would have hated to lose you without getting to thank you.”

Dave smiles back at her. “The same goes for you, Kan. You made this whole thing happen,” he adds, “Without you we’d be being slaughtered alone in our homes.” thinking then that that was probably a little too dark for conversation now, he quickly adds, “Anyway, we’re just lucky none of them had stakes. Wait actually can you killed by anything other than a stake?”

Kanaya rolls her eyes at him dramatically. “Do you know anything about vampires?” She asks, and laughs when he shakes his head. “One day, David,” she smirks, “Your sister is going to teach you something, and you’re going to listen.”

“Some things will never happen, Kan.”

She throws a sofa cushion weakly at his chest then, and he laughs as he bats it away, watching it roll onto the floor with s soft thud.

“Here,” Kanaya says, reaching for the bag of medical supplies by his side, “Let me get that back to Rose for you. Reckon you’ve got someone you’d rather be spending your time with.” And when he gapes, she simply says, “I’m not a blind old maid, Dave. I know young love when I see it.”

“Been looking in a mirror?” He teases, feeling triumphant when she blushes and quickly makes an obvious check of whether Rose was in the room to overhear that. He turns to leave the room then with a sigh. Kanaya’s right; there’s someone he’d much rather be with right now, no matter how much he loves Kanaya in her own right. 

“I’m sorry,” he adds as an afterthought just as he reaches the door, not turning to face Kanaya, “About Aradia. I tried to save her. I know she was all you had for a while, and I’m sorry she’s not here anymore.” He does his best to swallow back his tears.

“Aradia was stubborn,” Kanaya says gently, “If she wanted to die for the cause, nothing could have stopped her. I’m only glad she left me once she knew I wouldn’t be alone anymore.” Dave turns his head, and finds Kanaya still sitting on the sofa, gazing at him almost peacefully. “You and your sister have brought more into my world than I ever thought possible,” she says, “Goodnight, Dave.”

“Night, Kan,” he calls to her quietly, and when he hurries out into the hallway, he does his best to pretend there aren’t tears in his eyes once again.

*****

Upstairs it’s eerily quiet, only the faintest sounds of murmuring, and worse, weeping, coming, stifled, from behind closed bedroom doors, the hallways dim and maps barely burning. Dave passes by each room faster than the last, almost at the sanctuary of his own when he’s suddenly stopped by a hand on his wrist. He half jumps out of his skin until he wheels around to find Karkat staring at him, glowing eyes owlish in the low light.

“Hey,” Dave murmurs, “Sorry I was so long. Lots of injuries, lots of stubborn people hiding them, that sorta thing.”

“I spoke to Nepeta,” Karkat says quietly, and Dave’s heart lurches. He knows his own thoughts about Karkat, however complicated and mixed up they might be, but he’s half afraid that Karkat might not be prepared for this, might not want some ridiculous soulmate bond keeping the two of them bound together for all eternity. After all, their lifestyles have never quite matched. Won’t Karkat tire of being attached at the hip to a measly human eventually?

“Uh, yeah, me too, “Dave murmurs cautiously, “What did you thi-” 

He’s cut off by the demon stretching up on his toes to kiss him again, confident and self-assured this time, hands gently grabbing at him, and Dave does nothing to complain. He could get used to this. He could get used to all of this.

It’s short, far too short, but both of them are painfully aware of their exposure in the hallway, of the eyes waiting behind every door and the possible judgement lingering there too. After all, even in a house of curiosities there will always be judgement on those deemed the weirdest. And who could be weirder than a demon and a human in love and not war with each other?

“All my life,” Karkat murmurs after a moment, touching his forehead briefly to Dave’s when the human leans down, “I have just wanted to be loved for who I am.”

Dave smiles at that, though he’s saddened by the idea that Karkat has, for so long, felt so entirely alone, just as he once had. “I’ll do my best to be that person, if you’ll let me,” he promises him, and feels the demon tug him closer, his breath warm against Dave’s face.

“I want to be that too,” Karkat murmurs quietly to him too, and Dave feels himself practically melt in relief. Love, he thinks, has always terrified him. The fear of rejection and of being alone has always left him even more terrified. Now, here is maybe the answer to all of that, and it’s in the last place he ever expected to find it.

Maybe it isn’t love yet. Love, Dave knows, takes time and effort and long development, but it’s a start. That’s what they have here: the start of something. And that alone is enough to make Dave feel some sort of hope for the future. And a moment later, when the two of them collapse into Dave’s bed, dragging themselves into the room where it’s a little more private, Dave’s pretty sure there’s something here for the two of them, some promise of a better future for the both of them.

As they lay there, Dave feels the horror of the day come back to him, suddenly sending dread coursing through him. Karkat, already, is sprawled out across the bed beside him, exhausted, but as they settle there Dave finds the demon’s hands beginning to pass gently through his hair, and it’s enough to calm him slightly. Still, he can’t help the way his shoulders shake a little with the suppression of tears that build again as he remembers the night before, of having gathered in the garden with Aradia there. How very different these two nights have been. Karkat, in all his gentle patience, mentions nothing of Dave’s tears, just continues petting his hair as he adjusts himself until he’s all but sprawled across Dave’s chest, murmuring soothingly.

“We’re okay,” Karkat murmurs quietly, “We’re okay.”

“She’s not,” Dave replies quietly, and Karkat nods gently, swiping a tear from Dave’s cheek.

“I know,” Karkat murmurs, “But it’ll be okay, eventually. It’ll all be okay.” He murmurs it over and over, a mantra of sorts, and Dave feels it soothe him, lulling him into the beginnings of sleep. Dave could never have imagined a demon could ever be quiet so gentle and affectionate, but with the weight of the demon pressed across his chest like a blanket, hands still tangled in his hair, the faintest wisps of those smoky wings of Karkat forming again and draping themselves across him, he finds that, even through the turmoil, it’s easy to fall deep into sleep, and he only hopes that Karkat will sleep as peacefully as he knows he will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aghiuhkjhgkjdfh here it isss. davekat time. it's late and i don't have much else to say, but pls enjoy this chapter it took ages. this was orignally the end of the fic in the first draft but we have two more chapters to go. ok i am going to get some sleep now. byeee  
> \- C <3
> 
> (i havent spell checked this yet, will do it tomorrow, so if youre reading this early then it might be riddled with typos, sorryyy)


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: dead bodies, funerals, nightmares, past trauma

Steel clashes against armour, casting flickering supernovas of reflected sunlight across the battlefield that blind Dave as he fights on, the back of his throat burning and dry. He can’t remember the last time he drew breath. And then, through the cacophony of metal, breaks a piercing scream, and Dave falls, knocked to the floor by its power, dragging his hands up over his ears. And yet it won’t block the noise out. The awful sound drags on and on and Dave shakes under it until he forces his eyes open again only to find the ground under his feet turning red, seeping blood like it’s flooding out from the very ground itself. It rises and rises and he finds his legs won’t work to lift him up, until the blood reaches his chin, and then, all at once, crashes up over his face in a fearsome wave. With a surge it infiltrates his nose and mouth, dull copper forcing its way into his every sense, and he gags on it, finding himself unable to escape. Against everything, he opens his mouth to try to scream and -

“Dave. Dave!”

Dave’s eyes fly open into the morning sunlight, only to find a tired, frown-lined face peering down at him. For a second he’s driven on by that same panic and adrenaline from the dream, and then in a blink it's gone and Dave’s collapses backwards in exhaustion, head smacking into the pillows beneath him.

“You were screaming,” Karkat mumbles. His voice, Dave notices, is even rougher than usual when edged with sleep, his words ever so slightly slurred as his fangs catch on his bottom lip.

_‘Adorable,’_ Dave’s brain supplies exhaustedly as the demon continues to stare down at him with concerned eyes from where, Dave only then realises, the demon is sat over his hips. Dave barely has enough energy in him to warrant a blush at that. He simply presses his eyes closed again and fumbles with slightly shaking hands to bat at Karkat until he rolls away off to the side. He lets out a huff of laughter as the mattress dips under the demon’s sudden fall, and Karkat snorts too, turning to press his face into Dave’s shoulder. For a while then, the two of them are quiet, just the sounds of gentle breathing between the two of them and the careful shifting of bedsheets over skin as Karkat shuffles into a more comfortable position.

“Was it a nightmare?” Karkat asks eventually. His voice is brighter now, or as bright as Karkat’s standards allow it to be, enough to let Dave know there’s no chance of him falling back asleep again, no way out of having this conversation. So he shifts slightly, turning to prop himself up on one elbow, and stares down at Karkat as the demon curls up even more so into the blankets.

“Yeah,” Dave replies quietly, “Just...war stuff. Nothing important.”

“Not about your...past, then?”

“Yesterday counts as the past, technically,” Dave offers, and gets a lazy kick aimed at his thigh.

“You know what I mean,” Karkat huffs, “The usual stuff you dream about.”

“No, nothing about all that,” Dave tells him, “Haven’t had the time to even think about that right now.”

“There’s really that little room in that head of yours?” Karkat teases gently, and now it’s Dave’s turn to kick at him, poking his toes towards Karkat’s shin. And they laugh quietly amongst themselves, huffing and giggling amongst themselves as they burrow further into the warth of the bed, because right now that’s the easiest way Dave can think of dealing with everything. Avoidance is no cure, but he thinks he prefers the easy morning sunlight and the scratch of Karkat’s hair against his shoulder to any other thought right now. He just slips back down into that gentle state between sleeping and waking, and lets himself linger there a while.

Eventually Dave rouses again, only to find Karkat having sunk into an even deeper sleep than before. He’s tangled up in blankets now and all curled in on himself, and Dave can’t quite bring himself to reach out and wake him up. Instead, he rolls away from him carefully and then gets himself up to his feet. The house is quiet around him, with nothing but the sound of Karkat’s breath squeaking ever so slightly in his sleep in the background as he changes out of the shirt he’d fallen asleep in and seeks out a new outfit. The demon is still peacefully fast asleep when he leaves the room.

There’s no one in the kitchen. It’s strange to pass by the usually busy room and find it empty and silent, and Dave lingers for a moment near the doorway before continuing onwards, eventually finding the first signs of life in the living room. Rose and Kanaya are curled up together there on one of the sofas, a hand knitted blanket thrown over Rose’s lap as she meticulously checks over the superficial cuts on Kanaya’s hands.

“I really am fine,” he hears Kanaya murmur softly from where her chin is resting on Rose’s shoulder, legs strewn out across Rose’s lap.

“I’m just checking,” Rose replies quietly, and the two giggle privately amongst themselves, sweet and sentimental, Rose ducking her own head sideways to rest atop Kanaya’s. Dave feels uncomfortable watching them. It’s like he’s walked in on something meant only for them, and so he takes a few steps back up the corridor, and then approaches again, deliberately walking much louder this time, humming to himself as he goes. By the time he rounds the corner, Kanaya has sat bolt upright and shuffled a little way away from Rose. He smiles faintly to himself, his mission accomplished.

“You two aren’t subtle,” he tells the two of them with a smirk as this time he strolls in and collapses down into an armchair, draping his legs over one of the chair’s arms.

Rose stares at him, eyes narrowed, for a second, and then just sighs dramatically and slumps sideways into Kanaya, draping an arm around her maybe-girlfriend’s shoulder. Dave reminds himself to ask Rose later what exactly the relationship between her and Kanaya is, but for now he just settles himself comfortably into the chair and lets the two of them continue on unquestioned.

“How are you this morning Dave?” Rose asks after a moment.

Dave shrugs. “Best I can be,” he says.

“And Karkat?” Rose asks, and he doesn’t miss the hidden meaning in the raise of her eyebrows. Rose can be as subtle as she likes, but Dave knows how to read her facial expressions like a book.

Dave skips over explaining any of it to them. “You knew,” Dave accuses her instead, thinking there’s no better time to bring it up, “You knew me and Karkat were…”

“Connected?” Rose guesses when he fails to finish the sentence, the word ‘soulmate’ still feeling far too heavy on his tongue, “I had my suspicions, yes. There aren’t many times a demon and a human become so easily connected without there being something more at play.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“Listen,” Rose says, “I didn’t mean to keep things from you, but often I can’t rely on what I See. I didn’t want to get your hopes up. And then I didn’t want you to get distracted. Either way, I thought it best to let you take charge of this part of your life on your own.”

“Well then,” Dave says with a faint smile, “Thank you.”

There’s quiet for a while then, and Dave, unsure what to say and feeling a little out of place there with the two of them, asks, “Where’s everyone else?”

Kanaya and Rose exchange a glance for a second, almost nervously. “Asleep, or in the garden,” Kanaya answers after a moment, “Preparing.”

“For what?” Dave asks, and watches their faces darken further.

“The funerals,” Rose answers eventually, and Dave’s heart sinks.

*****

Despite the lingering darkness of yesterday and the threat of what the rest of the day will bring, the morning passes fast. Dave lingers in the living room for a while, and then ends up in the kitchen alongside Kanaya, serving up plates of toast and cups of tea as people start to appear. Some come into the kitchen still addled by sleep, rubbing at bleary eyes and stumbling over tired words of thanks, others appear streaked with mud from the meadow and far too bright-eyed for anyone so early in the morning. Half of them are strangers to Dave, just other people from Kanaya’s communication web that he’s never met before, and he learns, from words half whispered between them, that most of them have been out digging in the meadow. He doesn’t need to ask to know what they’ve been digging.

It’s only later, when everything’s almost ready and Kanaya asks him to take a cup of tea out to someone in the graden, that he finally sees the bodies.

The meadow, when he reaches it, is busier than he’d expected. There are a couple of the men he doesn’t recognise at work furher out towards the woods, Vriska directing them with a wave of her sword. At least some people are still taking charge, Dave thinks; he doesn’t think he’s got it in him to even try coordinating anything that morning. Beyond her, Terezi is limping her way out of the woods, dragging something behind her. And there, where he won’t quite let his eyes linger too long, are the bodies, laid out in a neat row on the dew-laden grass, and almost believable from a distance as just living people out enjoying the garden. Dave pauses a moment and draws in a deep breath, steeling himself before he passes across the tray of teacups to the man waiting there, watchjng as he turns to disappear back off towards the makeshift graves.

“Dave,” a voice says, and he glances sideways to find Nepeta crouched near Kanaya’s flower beds next to the back door. He nods at her in greeting, shoving his hands into his pockets to fight off the chill of the morning air.

“Morning,” he mutters after a moment, lowering himself down to sit on the small concrete step at the back door as he talks to her, “How’s the head?”

Nepeta raises a hand to gently touch the back of her head, and shrugs. “Healing, I think,” she replies, “Thank you.” As she speaks, Dave watches her twist together a few flowers with deft fingers into a neat loop, her eyes darting to and from his face over and over. She’s a little twitchier that morning than he’s seen her before.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly, guessing at the reason for her twitchiness, “About Equius.”

Nepeta shakes her head faintly, twisting a few leaves into the flower arrangement. “People always say they’re sorry for it,” she murmurs quietly, “But it wasn’t your fault.”

Dave's silent then. He knows what she means, but can’t help feeling more and more useless to be there for her, no words working for him to say what he wants to. “When did you meet him?” He asks instead. He wonders if it’s the wrong thing to ask, if it’s too painful to bring up, but knows it isn’t when Nepeta’s face instantly brightens.

“Not long ago, six months at most,” she says, “It was just supposed to be a thing for a few days. He needed help over a border between two dangerous regions and I was travelling through at the time. Someone sent him to me for help and I was just supposed to help him through it, but we got on so well that we just...never got around to going our separate ways. I don’t know if we ever would have. We always joked that we;d have to split up eventually one day but...I don’t know. He kept me safe, even though I never really needed the protection, and I helped him with… A lot.” She smiles sadly, plucking a loose petal from a wild daisy, and watches it fall, delicate and light, to the grass below. “Neither of us were used to having a companion, but it was...nice. It was nice to finally be able to trust someone so fully.”

“Were you two ever-”

“No,” Nepeta answers before Dave can even finish the sentence, “Nothing like that, always platonic but… You know, it’s strange: with Equius I could never read our connection quite as much as I could with others, I can never read my own relationships too well, but with him I always felt the two of us were fated to meet. Platonic soulmates, I liked to think of it.” She pauses then, quiet, and heaves a sigh that slowly deflates her body. “I never said any of that out loud to him, though, of course. I didn’t want to scare him off.” She shakes her head hurriedly with a forced laugh, and twists one of her hands into the grass beside her, tearing clumps of it up.

Dave lets his gaze drift then, too distrubed by the tears in her eyes which are still so bright with optimism anyway, and lets himself look out over the line of bodies. Equius isn’t hard to spot in his muscular stature, long hair splayed out on the grass beside him. Out of the corner of his eye, he just about sees Nepeta turn her head to look in that direction too.

“Sounds like you two had something good going,” Dave says quietly.

“Yeah,” Nepeta replies quietly, “I didn’t have a long time to get used to it but still...I miss it. The last few months were the best of my life.” She’s quiet again then for a long time, and finally admits, “He hated himself.”

Dave glances back over at her, surprised. “Why?”

“He had this power. Alchemy. Alchemy like you’ve never seen it. I once saw him take a river stone and turn it to pure gold. Not quite the real thing, of course, nothing can change science like that but...it was a good enough mimic to get us out of a tight spot we got caught in. But he was so scared of being an outcast, of not fitting to the standards of those that raised him...ir engrained a terrible fear in him.”

“Huh,” Dave murmurs, and regrets, not for the first time, never taking quite enough time to get to know some of the others. There are things in each of them he never knew, and now, he thinks, never will.

“These are for him,” Nepeta says, raising up the spray of blue delphiniums she’s woven together, “I know it’s not the best but...I’d like him to have something nice, you know? He’d think I was silly.”

“They’re lovely,” he tells her, “I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”

Nepeta nods mostly to herself, tightening her grip just a little on the flowers, and then she’s up on her feet and heading across the grass. Dave watches her go silently, worried deep down about what she’ll do now with Equius gone. For the first time, he realises that though the war might be over, there’s still so much to do, to rebuild, to grow from. He plucks a flower from the ground, tearing it out roots and all, and shreds the petals with anxious hands.

A few minutes later, when he’s gotten down to the roots and is picking them apart from their bundles, there’s movement as someone steps out through the open back door and then stumbles to a halt where Dave’s sitting on the back step.

“Morning,” a familiar voice mutters, rough with sleep, and then Karkat sinks down onto the step beside him, tilting his head sideways until one of his horns knocks Dave’s jaw.

“Hey,” Dave says quietly, letting his own head rest down against Karkat’s hair, feeling the demon’s body almost deflate as Karkat lets out a heavy sigh.

“Funerals later, then?” Karkat asks, his breath drifting out in wisps into the cold morning air.

“Mmh,” Dave hums in affirmation.

“Never been to a funeral before.”

“You haven’t?”

“Demons don’t really go all in for sentimentality. Also demons don’t die quite so often as you puny humans” Karkat laughs faintly, swinging a foot sideways to knock against Dave’s.

“It’ll be...good,” Dave says after a moment.

“It will?”

“Well I mean no it’ll be awful,” Dave says, “But it’ll be...an end. We can close this chapter, put them all to rest, and then...then we can move on. That’s what funerals are for, really.”

“I thought they were to honour the dead.”

Dave shrugs. “Yeah, in theory,” Dave says, “But the dead don’t care. The dead are cold and meaningless and most of the time have no more influence on the world of the living. As much as we like to pretend we’re doing it for the dead, it’s really for ourselves, to give us some way to put an end to it all.”

Karkat lifts his head then to smirk at Dave ever so slightly. “You’re starting to sound like Rose,” he says, and Dave kicks him back with a scoff and drops his head down onto his shoulder again. “You want to go and see her?” Karkat asks quietly.

“No,” Dave says, “No...not yet.”

“When?” Karkat asks. Dave has no answer for him.

*****  
‘When’ comes almost half an hour later. He and Karkat have done nothing but sit there on the step for that whole time, watching the others in the garden while Dave does his best to ignore the bodies and the horrible flood of memories they’re bringing back to him. Karkat doesn’t question his silence, just puts an arm around Dave’s shoulders to keep him warm and sits there with him as long as it takes. And then, so quietly Dave almost doesn’t realise they’re there, Rose and Kanaya appear out of the house, stepping carefully around them, and the gentle stirring in the conversations around them tells Dave what’s about to happen.

“Everyone!” Rose calls after a moment, taking a few steps further out into the garden and carefully raising a hand to attract people’s attention towards her. The people further out start to wander closer, and Rose waits a moment until everyone’s close enough to hear her before she begins speaking. “I know you all are mourning,” she says gently, “And that we are all recovering from yesterday. But we are beginning the burials now, and we could do with the help of all of you to make sure this goes well.”

Dave and Karkat get to their feet to join the small crowd that begins to gather, watching as Kanaya steps up towards the line of bodies and assesses them with a careful gaze.

“I would like to say a little something, for all of the fallen,” Kanaya says, “And I would like you all to speak for your dead and your loved ones too. And then, finally, we will put them to rest, and put all this war to rest too.”

There’s a murmur of appreciation and agreement throughout the crowds, and already it’s clear to Dave just how much everyone all respects and cares for Kanaya. Her ability to take control in all of these situations is so admirable to him, and he finds himself almost smiling as he watches her take charge and gently calm the situation with ease.

“This war, these conflicts, have plagued our kind for thousands of years,” Kanaya begins, “And all of you know this and have felt its impacts. All those who we put to rest today sacrificed the unimaginable to allow us a passage to freedom from the grips of this war. And that...That is a feat that will never be forgotten by any of us. The pain and hurt we all feel in their absence will not be forgotten or easily lost either, but today, for our sake and theirs, we lay them to rest. We’ll begin with our dear Feferi.”

And that’s how it commences. Kanaya moves down the line of bodies, discussing each one and calling on those who knew them best to talk about each person, before laying each person into their selected grave. One by one, those they have lost are lain to rest, and Dave does his best to stay strong as he watches them disappear one by one. Feferi’s loss hurts him more than he’d expected it to, as he remembers the sacrifices she’d made, and yet he bites down on his tongue gently, keeping himself from crying to do his best to not look weak, and stares dead ahead as the sun warms the garden with a light too bright and cheerful for such a day.

Kanaya continues talking as each person is carried gently into their final resting place, speaking at length about each person, even those who Dave never even got a chance to learn the names of before. And then, last of all, she reaches Aradia, and Dave feels his steadily growing dread suddenly spike. He swallows thickly as Kanaya turns her gaze on her.

“For many months Aradia was my only companion in this house after those who used to live here with me had to leave due to the war. In that time I got to know her well, and I believe I speak for everyone who ever had the chance to get to know her when I say she was the brightest, kindest, and most interesting person I have ever met. Aradia tried her best to be positive in everything we faced and even in the horrors we faced she still managed to make things just a little better for everybody. Without her, I feel things could not have gone quite as well for us as they have, and as with everyone, her sacrifice will never be forgotten. But I feel I am not the one who should be saying all of this, for in the last few weeks Aradia has been not only my friend, but far more important to two particular people here. Dave, Karkat, is there anything you want to say?”

When Kanaya turns her eyes on Dave, and the rest of the group follow her move, he panics, hoping with his breath caught in his throat that Karkat will speak for him, but finds the demon simply watching him patiently too. He doesn’t have the words. But he tries.

“She was the best,” he says, and stops. His voice is shaking, cracked as he tries to hold back the tears that are slowly creeping their way from his eyes. He thinks maybe that alone is enough said, maybe it’s all that’s needed, but the others continue watching, waiting, and at a gentle nod from Rose he takes a breath and does his best to carry on. “Aradia welcomed me as a friend from the moment I first met her, and then did the same for Karkat. And it was only with her help and ideas that we ever managed to rescue Karkat in the first place.” He reaches out then, finding Karkat’s hand, and squeezes it gently. “I owe her everything I’ve got now,” he says, quieter, more to himself than anyone else, “I don’t know how I can ever repay that debt.”

“Thank you, Dave,” Kanaya says quietly, “Anyone else?” And when there’s no one else to speak, when even Karkat says quiet with nothing to say, Kanaya nods her head gently. “I think maybe there would never be enough words to describe Aradia anyway,” she adds quietly, and only then does Dave see the first few tears spill down her cheeks as she loses control. He breaks then too, trying not to all out sob but unable to stop the tears as they spill over from his already stinging eyes, the lump in his throat weighing down too much pressure all of a sudden. Karkat tucks in closer to him, gently whispering something Dave doesn’t hear, and they stand there for what feels like a long time, crying into the cold morning air until they’re called over to do the honors and manoeuvre Aradia’s body carefully into her chosen grave.

She’s cold and stiff and Dave does his best ignore all of that as he gathers her up with the help of Karkat. Instead, he simply keeps his eyes on Karkat as the two of them, under the gaze of the entire gathered crowd, carry her towards the grave. It’s lined with simple sheets and flowers, and as they crouch beside it and gently lay her inside, and Dave gently shifts a few of the flowers to tuck them around her when she’s finally settled down.

“Bye, Aradia,” he whispers quietly at the last moment as he finally stands up, “Thank you for everything.” He hears Karkat murmur something to a similar effect, and then the two of them head back towards the group, Dave no longer even trying to hide his tears as he turns his back on Aradia for the last time. When he reaches them, Rose drapes one arm around his shoulder gently to pull him into a side hug, and he watches from a distance as the graves begin to be filled, feeling too weak to even think about joining them, his legs shaking under him. Time blurs a little as he watches it all happen before him, powerless to change anything at all.

The sun’s setting by the time the graves are filled in and they head inside. Karkat gets dragged along inside by Nepeta as she murmurs something excitedly to him, and Dave trails behind the group with Rose, watching Karkat go with a slight smile.

“So what now?” Dave asks, rubbing the back of his hand over his face in some desperate attempt to rid himself of the lingering sensation of dried tears, “Is it over?”

“Well,” Rose says, “I wanted to talk to you about that actually.” She’s quiet until they get into the kitchen, and then gently pulls him aside as the others continue to file in past them. “I’d like to go back and check on the cottage,” she says, “I know it’s stupid and probably pointless but I’d just-“

“I know,” Dave interrupts her. He’s not surprised. He knows the importance of the place to Rose, knows that even if everything’s gone she’ll want to know, and won’t be able to rest until she knows the full conclusion of it all. If anything, he’s surprised only that it took her this long to mention it.

Rose dips her head at him, smiling just a little in that grateful and understanding way of hers. “Some of the others are staying here a while, until we know exactly how the future’s going to play out, but…Kanaya’s going to come with me. You’re welcome to stay here if you want but I’d like it if you came back with me, even if just for a day or so, and we can always come back afterwards.”

“And Karkat?”

“Is invited everywhere you are,” Rose tells him, “He’s family now.” The words bring some small sense of comfort to Dave, and he’s glad to find at least some relief in the worry of what lays beyond them.

“I’ll come,” he says.

“you don’t need time to think about it?”

“No.” In truth he’s thought about it a lot, even in the days before the war. The inevitability of having to find out exactly what happened to their old life has always been a lingering promise and threat, and he knows he’d never let Rose face it alone. They’re in it together. They have been for a long time.

“Well, that’s good,” Rose says, “Because I was sort of thinking of leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow? That’s…soon.”

“There’s never any point in delaying these things, Dave,” Rose reminds him, “It only makes them harder to face eventually.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” he says with a nod, “I’ll speak to Karkat.”

Rose nods at him with a pleased smile, and then with a gentle touch to his arm she’s gone and hurrying off amongst the throng of people to catch up to Kanaya. Dave watches her go with a grin and follows the rest of them in at a slower pace.

Most people disappear instantly, trailing off into their own rooms, all of them tired from the day and seemingly desperate for their own space. Dave watches as Nepeta tearfully embraces Karkat and then turns to head up stairs, the rest of the group drifting their separate ways as she does so.

“Kanaya and I were going to have a quick drink,” Rose says to Dave and Karkat as the two of them drift together again, unconsciously lacing their hands together as they stand side by side, “Join us?”

Dave nods, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see Karkat nod too and Rose nods at them before disappearing off towards the kitchen on her own. He blinks up at her gratefully, and then lets Karkat leads him over to the sofa, collapsing down against the demon’s side. Kanaya is quiet as she settles down onto the sofa opposite and pulls a cushion into her lap, pulling free a loose thread from the material as they sit there. The room is dimly lit and silent and Dave feels he could probably fall asleep right there and then, tucked carefully against the warmth of Karkat’s side.

“Rose and Kan are heading back to the cottage tomorrow,” Dave says quietly as they sit there, ignoring the way he can feel Kanaya carefully watching him from the other side of the room, “I...I said I’d go with them. You don’t have to come or anything but I just...I need to see how things ended up and stuff, you know? I just -”

“Dave,” Karkat cuts him off, “It’s okay. Of course I’ll come with you.”  
Dave glances over at him to find the demon looking overly casual, as if he hasn’t just agreed to something that means so much to Dave. For him this is everything, some agreement that Karkat really does want to be with him no matter where, but for Karkat it seems the easiest decision for him.

“Thanks,” Dave says quietly after a moment too long of staring, and ducks his head sideways gently to fall further down onto Karkat’s shoulder. The demon just smiles slightly and tucks in closer to him as they watch Rose walk back into the room with a tray of drinks.

“So,” Kanaya says as Rose passes out glasses of hot cider amongst the group, “Another journey tomorrow, then.”

“Yes,” Rose says, “No hijacking carriages this time, though.”

“Absolutely not,” Dave agrees with a nod, “Never again.”

“Hopefully we won’t end up quite so on the run,” Rose agrees, “But yes, another journey. And hopefully after that we’ll be able to work out how to settle down long term. All of us. We’re a family now, no matter how dysfunctional.”

Dave laughs softly, squeezing one of Karkat’s hands gently, “Yeah, I guess we are,” he smiles.  
The evening is long and quiet as the four of them sit there, exchanging small plans and ideas for the journey ahead and sipping at cider. It’s a bittersweet sort of feeling, the idea that tomorrow they’ll be leaving but with the promise that something new is coming. Dave thinks maybe his entire life will feel like this. But with his new family by his side this time, he isn’t quite so worried as he has been before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AGH SORRY i ran out of enthusiasm for this fic for a *long* time. i genuinely had to force myself to write out this chapter so sorry if it's sorta underwhleming. i also am tryna apply for uni and i also just got a job so busy busy life i have had no fanfic time. the very last chapter is pretty much ready to go though and i'm going to do my very best to get it done by christmas. very sad to be drawing this to a close tho, and im gonna miss posting and stuff, but i'll speak more about that after the last chapter.  
> for now, thanks for reading as usual!!! - C


	20. Chapter 20

The kitchen the next morning is… loud. Kanaya is singing to herself calmly by the window, Rose is hunched over a tarot spread laid out over the table muttering to herself, and Karkat is crouched by the doorway loudly throwing things into bags, metal clattering together as he carefully slips weapons amongst their belongings just in case. It’s not a bad noise, though, not the frantic worry of the morning before the war or the mournful communal noise of the day after it, but a lighter, cheerful noise. It sounds like hope, Dave thinks, as he leans against the wall and sips at yet another cup of tea. There’s lemon juice and honey in it today, a gentle bitter sweetness against the cold morning. He smiles faintly to himself as Nepeta slips into the room and moves to stand beside him, silently tipping her head sideways to watch Karkat at work.

“I think we’re almost ready,” Kanaya says after a long moment, turning from the window, “Weather’s looking good for a journey today.”

Karkat looks up from where he’s crouched and nods. “We’ve got enough supplies,'' he agrees, “It’s not a long journey.”

Kanaya turns her gaze on Nepeta then. “You’re staying here a while?” She checks, and Nepeta ducks her head in a nod.

“Yes, I think it’ll be a while before I go back to travelling again,” Nepeta agrees.

Kanaya smiles, and then reaches into her pocket, drawing out a heavy set of keys and putting them down onto the kitchen side. “Keep an eye on the house for me then,” she says with a nod, “I’ll be back at some point but I trust you.”

For a moment Nepeta remains strangely silent, and then she smiles brightly at Kanaya, rambling words of disbelief and thanks, and as he watches the two of them Dave gets the feeling that this is calculated on Kanaya’s part, that Nepeta needs this after she’s lost everything and that Kanaya knows that. Kanaya's motherly instinct, the care she has for each and every person that comes into his life, is always startling to Dave. If only he'd been raises by people like her and Rose from the start. That tattoo on his wrist burns at the thought, and he resigns himself further to the plan he's had for so long to get the damned thing covered up as soon as they're settled into their new life, whatever that life may turn out to be. With a smile, Dave nods at Kanaya knowingly as she begins to reel off information about the house to Nepeta, and then, distracted by a groan from the doorway, steps over to help Karkat with a bag he’s struggling to move out into the hallway. The two of them are silent as Dave helps Karkat lift it up, their hands brushing against each other as they ditch it by the front door. They've bene quiet all morning, most of the early hours of the day spent silently holding each other in bed, both too overwhelmed with thoughts to put them well enough into place to ever actually voice them. Karkat pauses, though, before they head back to the kitchen, hand taking hold of Dave’s wrist.

“Dave, do you think...do you think it’s there...the house?” Karkat murmurs quietly, “Is it all still there? Or are we just travelling towards nothing?” It's the question Dave is sure is on everybody's minds, whether they like it or not.

“I don’t know,” Dave admits, “But...optimism, right? We’ll never know if we don’t find out. It's all just a part of putting things back together again.”

Karkat’s quiet for a moment, and then reaches out to pat Dave’s face gently in a strangely comforting way. “You’ve changed,” he tells him.

“What?”

“Just like… the Dave I used to know wasn’t so good at looking on the bright side.”

“Is it...a good change?” 

Karkat grins, and stretches on his toes to kiss him, a soft, quick peck that’s so un-Karkat-like that it almost startles Dave. He’s still getting used to the gentler parts of this fragile new life. “Very good,” Karkat tells him, “I think Aradia rubbed off on you a bit.” And then he turns and wanders back into the living room with a happy little sigh, leaving Dave grinning to himself alone.

*****

The last few moments in the house Dave spends alone, re-walking the hallways and pacing the rooms, unsure of when he’ll be back or how much it’ll have changed here by the time he is. With the war over and the world changing in its aftermath, he’s sure the house will soon take back it’s old role as a community place for those now safer to gather again. For now, in the eerily empty rooms, he pauses lastly in the library, and finds, discarded on one old, still dusty armchair, Aradia’s fairytale book. With a smile, he picks it up, feeling the familiar heavy weight and crumpled paper in his hands, and finally finds in him the strength to turn and leave the library to where his friends wait now by the front door. The book in his hand puts a thought in his mind, tugging at the one last string he hasn’t tied neatly together with everything else, one last thing he needs to put into place before he can leave. Alone in the hallway, he slips the book carefully into one of his bags, and then reaches for the door, pulling it open just a crack and then stepping outside as quietly as possible. If he’s quick, he thinks, he’ll be back before anyone even notices he’s gone.

The air outside is biting cold, more so than he’d expected it to be, and Dave shudders, drawing his cloak tighter around himself as he continues walking on out. The door clicks shut behind him, quiet and at the same time all too loud, and he hurries his pace, eyes ahead on the forest and also focused he doesn’t hear the other set of footsteps behind him until it’s too late.

“Where are you going?” Karkat’s voice comes suddenly from behind him, and Dave jumps out of his skin, wheeling around in place before his mind has registered whose voice it is. The demon crosses his arms and watches him patiently as Dave takes a few seconds to calm himself, berating himself internally for just how easily rattled he is now. The old soldier’s mindset is slipping, he thinks, and doesn’t know how to feel about that.

“Nowhere, nowhere, I just…,” Dave assures him once he’s caught his breath, “There’s something I need to do before we go. I’m not running or anything, I promise...There’s just a lot to leave behind here.” He's not sure why he conceals the whole truth. It feels selfish, but he's sure this is something he needs to do alone, one last remembrance for her.

Karkat stares at him for a second more, and then some look almost of understanding that Dave can’t quite read falls over his face, and he nods. He grabs hold of one of Dave’s hands quickly, and squeezes it, before turning back towards the now wide open door of the house. “Don’t be late, we’re leaving soon,” he says over his shoulder as he goes, offering Dave a smile before he turns fully and plunges back into the shadows of the house.. Dave smiles shakily after him, and then, shaking all distraction from his mind, turns and plunges out into the cold air beyond the door, determined.

The trees are losing their leaves to the changing season, crisp in frost under Dave’s feet as he makes his way deeper into the woods. The path he’s looking for is easy enough to find, and he tracks his way towards the ruins at a steady pace, taking only a few minutes to find the first of the crumbled stone pillars scattered across the ground. The place feels almost a memorial now as he approaches, and Dave sighs softly, feeling the weight of the breath leave his chest as he slows his pace to draw it out. If there's one last place he needs to visit, he feels sure, deep in his heart, that it's here. As he reaches the edge of it all, he finds the tangle of brambles and thorns still persisting even in the colder seasons, and pauses for a second there. He hasn’t been back to the ruins in a while, and the visible crumbled stones ahead of him leave a twisting pain in his heart as he ducks down under the thorns and pushes his way through it all, realising for the first time that he hasn’t got his sword with him as he does his best to fight his way through it empty handed. Finally, he gets through into the ruins, and instantly stumbles to a halt. Ahead of him there’s a figure, someone in the place he’d expected to be alone, and for a second he’s ready to turn and leave again, until recognition clicks in his mind. His breath plumes out in front of him with the surprised gasp he lets out, mind instantly closing down at the impossibility of who or what is before him.

She’s there.

As impossible and unnatural and entirely unbelievable as it is, somehow, some way, Aradia is sitting on the steps in the middle of the ruins as if it's as normal as ever for her to be there.

Dave stands as still as possible at the very edge of the clearing, breath caught in his throat, and stares. It takes only a second for the faintest breeze to pick up, and as her hair stirs in it, he sees, just for a second, the outline of the trees beyond her through the side of her face. His breath catches further. She’s some projection, some image, not quite there. A...ghost. He breathes out slowly as she turns her head and finally notices him.

Instantly, she breaks out into a wide and awfully familiar grin. And it’s so obviously her, so close to the bright girl he used to know, that Dave races across the ruin without a second thought, heart hammering in his chest with some weird uncontained joy, and falls down onto his knees next to where she’s sitting, barely noticing the way the stones dig into his knees through his trousers. Aradia laughs at him, light and airy, throwing her head back and watching as he scrambles towards her only to find his hand goes right through when he tries to touch her arm. A ghost, then, definitely. He sighs softly, but the realisation she’s not quite herself doesn’t take away from the bright lightness taking over his body at being able to talk to her again.

There’s so much he wants to say, so much he should have said before she passed and things he should have long before that. For a long time he’s speechless trying to work out exactly what it is he should say. “Hey,” he says eventually.

“Took you long enough,” Aradia grins, “Knew you’d show up eventually.” he expects himself to cry, is ready to let himself after so long, but finds only an eerie sense of calm wash over him at her words. And the familiarity of speaking to her, as if nothing ever got between them, takes every racing thought away from his mind, leaving him to fall into conversation as easily as ever.

“You’ve been waiting here this whole time?” Dave asks her, “Why didn’t you come back to the house?”

Aradia shakes her head. “Too many people, too much energy,” she says, “It takes so much effort just to be here. I knew you’d come here eventually, though.”

“Why did you need to see me?” He asks, and she smiles, ducking her head to one side thoughtfully.

“I just wanted to see you one last time,” she says, “Just to say...thank you, and please don’t beat yourself up about this. Because I know you Dave, and I know you probably will.”

“I...I’ll try not to,” he promises her, still dazed just by seeing her again and unable properly to focus on her words. She nods, and then lets out a faint sigh and flops backwards onto the floor like she did so many weeks below, smiling contentedly up at the treetops. Dave stays sitting up, staring ahead as she lays beside him, and for a long time they’re silent.

“Are you actually here?” He asks after a moment, watching the birds play on the ground before them, “Or have I finally lost it?”

“It’s me,” she confirms, and then huffs amusedly, “You didn’t actually think death was going to stop me, right?”

“Sure, course not,” he says with a surprised shake of his head, “I just...shit, Aradia, I fucking buried you yesterday!”

She blinks, almost shocked for a second, and then sighs. “Dave I’m sorry, I would have sought you out if I could. But this ghost thing is...harder than I thought it would be.”

“But I...you...I don’t…” He drops his head down into his hands, finding himself shaking now. “So you’re just gonna stay here forever?” He mumbles into his palms, as if this could ever be a normal conversation.

“No, no, I have things to do on the other side of the veil,” she says. “And you have other things to be doing too,” she adds, nodding at the bag slung across his shoulder, “I hope your journey goes well, Dave.”

“Aradia I don’t -”

“No one ever wants to say goodbye,” she says before he even gets the sentence out, “But at least this way we got a goodbye that wasn’t so...you know.”

For a moment Dave’s there again, clutching at Aradia in the bloodied dirt as her life ebbs out of her. He blinks, shakes it away, and she’s there again, watching him patiently, and he’s sure this is infinitely better than their last goodbye. “Yeah,” he sighs softly, “Will you be okay?”

“Of course,” she says, grinning again, “Have I ever not been?” And Dave’s not sure why he ever worried.

“No,” he says, a faint grin spreading across his face, reminding himself as much as he is her when he says: “You’re always fine.”

“Go live your life, Dave,” she murmurs quietly then, and before he knows it she’s lifting herself delicately up off of the ruin floor for what he knows will be the last time, brushing her hands casually down her skirt. “I’m happy for you and Karkat, you two deserve everything you’ve got.”

“How do you know?-”

Aradia cuts him off with a wave of her hand and then taps her nose with a slight smirk. “Call it spectral intuition,” she says. 

He laughs softly, shaking his head, but then she moves as if to turn away and Dave’s heart lurches slightly in panic. “Wait!” He calls, “Please don’t!”

“Dave,” she sighs, turning back around again, “You’ve got one thing I haven’t now: a chance at life. So go do your life stuff and I’ll go do my...death stuff. Don’t lose yourself to worrying about death. We’ve already said goodbye, once, let’s not do it again. Okay? Just let me walk away like it’s just another day.”

The urge to protest fights at Dave for a few more seconds, and then he caves under the gentle watch of her gaze. “Okay,” he says softly, finding himself only now finally crying, the word shaky in his throat. He raises a hand quickly to swipe away a warm tear from his cheek, and then attempts a weak grin in her direction.

Aradia smiles back, more convincingly than him, and then turns her head over her shoulder for a brief second, glancing into the depths of the forest. “Well, then, places to be for both of us,” she says, “You know I'll always have your back, in this life and the next. See ya around, Dave. ”

“See ya,” Dave echoes her quietly. She’s right; it’s easier than goodbye.

*****

When Dave remerges from the forest, his three travelling companions are waiting outside the house, huddled in their travelling cloaks and with their bags now strapped securely to the saddles of two horses held by Kanaya. He wipes at his face again quickly, doing his best to remove the last frozen tear streaks from his cheeks, and then picks up his pace to hurry over towards them, doing his best not to glance back over his shoulder and instead leave the forest and all the memories it contains completely behind him now.

“Dave?” Karkat asks quietly the minute he reaches the group, “Everything alright?”

For a second, Dave pauses, considering telling them all everything. But their faces are too happy, too hopeful. Right now there’s too much to look forward to; there’ll be time to look back on the harder stuff once they’ve sorted out the future. 

“Fine,” he tells Karkat with the best smile he can manage, “It’s all fine.”

He knows instantly that Karkat doesn’t believe him. The demon stares him down for a long few seconds, not interrogative but just gently searching and assuring, and Dave waits for further question. Then Karkat just smiles back at him and ducks his head in a reluctant nod, giving in for now at least. Still, Dave’s not the least surprised when a moment later a warm pair of arms are enclosing around him, and he allows himself to duck down into it, tucking Karkat’s head comfortably under his chin and breathing in his gentle, warm scent. It’s good to find something solid and real for once in a long time.

“Ready?” Karkat murmurs to him.

“Ready,” he replies.

When the demon releases him from the embrace, Dave turns over to find Kanaya and Rose pointedly talking amongst themselves to give the two of them their space, and he huffs, traipsing over towards them and nodding at Rose in greeting as she looks up.

“So,” he says.

“So,” Rose repeats. She’s too nervous when Dave looks down into her eyes, but in a brighter way than she has been for so long.

“What is this, now?” Dave asks, “After all of this, after we find the house...is this war even over?” If anyone has the answer, he assumes it’s her, and holds out hope on that for a second. But then she simply shrugs.

“I don’t know,” Rose admits, “And I don’t like not knowing. The future has become more and more vague recently; we’ve changed so much in this world, I’m still waiting for everything to untangle and reveal itself." It's almost disappointing, to find even in Rose and all her power there is no answer, but then she lays a hand gently on his arm, and smiles at him." But for now," she says, "For now we go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahuhjgfxss there it is, the end! i'll be honest i'm not happy with the ending but blehh whatever, the rest of it was good enough. sorry this last chapter took so long, but i'm happy to finally he putting this up. this fic has been a massive part of my life for the last several months and i literally can't believe i'm finally bringing it to a close. i hope y'all are happy with the ending, and you've enjoyed this fic. to every single one of you who has read this, given kudos, commented, everything, you're so great i love you all, i hope you're all having good days and taking care of yourselves, thank you so much for being here for this fic, whether you read this as it was posted or if you're reading it later on after it was all finished up.  
> so, one last time, thank you all for reading! - C <3


End file.
